Weekly Newsletter |
Monday 14th September 2020 |
Monday! She's coming around fast at the moment, isn't she? We've a PACKED line-up of news to share today: but before that, a very special offer...
Special Offer
Our Laughter Lounge digital festival kicks off on Monday 28th. We're running a flash sale today. Enter the code flash101 to get £20 off a festival pass! But be quick as only the first 50 people to book before the end of Tuesday can claim it! Find out more
(Already bought your pass? Email us for info on how to claim retrospectively, we don't mind.)
Latest comedy news
Don't Hate The Playaz to return for Series 3
Don't Hate The Playaz is returning for a third series. The ITV2 music-based panel show begins filming on Friday.
Katherine Ryan working on The Duchess Series 2
Katherine Ryan has announced that she is already working on a second series of her new Netflix sitcom, The Duchess, although it has not officially been recommissioned.
Emily Atack and Laura Whitmore join Celebrity Juice as team captains
Emily Atack and Laura Whitmore have been named as the new team captains on Celebrity Juice. Series 24 of Keith Lemon's panel show starts on ITV2 soon.
Never Mind The Buzzcocks being revived by Sky
Never Mind The Buzzcocks is to return to screens. Sky One is working on a new version of the long-running music-centric quiz.
Tom Mayhew to record Radio 4 stand-up series
Comedian Tom Mayhew is to make a stand-up series for Radio 4. Based on his 2019 live show, I, Tom Mayhew will focus on topics including signing-on, being working class, and struggling to find work.
Netflix to turn David Walliams's Bad Dad book into a film
Netflix is adapting David Walliams's bestselling children's book Bad Dad into a feature film.
New Netflix shows for Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais has revealed he has two further projects in the pipeline with Netflix, following the launch of stand-up special SuperNature and the third series of his comedy After Life next year.
Matt Lucas signs four book deal
Matt Lucas has signed a deal with a publisher to release four new books. The first of the offerings will be a family-friendly joke book called My Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Silly Book of Jokes, released on 1st October.
Sacha Baron Cohen to return in Borat 2
Sacha Baron Cohen has reportedly filmed a brand new movie as Kazakhstani journalist Borat, which could be released as soon as next month.
Man Like Mobeen to return for Series 4
Man Like Mobeen is set to return for a fourth series, creator and star Guz Khan has revealed.
Josie Long speaks about violent online threats and sexism in comedy
Josie Long has spoken of the sexism she encountered as a teenage stand-up and the violent misogynistic abuse that she attracts online.
Worzel Gummidge to return for new special, Saucy Nancy
The BBC has confirmed that Mackenzie Crook's Worzel Gummidge will return for a new special titled Saucy Nancy.
Features
First Gig, Worst Gig: Johnny White Really-Really
A legend in his own lunchtime, Johnny White Really-Really talks Lunchwatch, Winalot and narcolepsy in Leeds.
British Comedy Quiz #118
We start of this week's quiz with the concept of going out... out out. The Full Monty also features.
Tessa Coates on chasing her Olympic dream and breaking America
Tessa Coates discusses launching her podcast about the 1908 Olympics, competing in the pentathlon and writing her US pilot.
BCG Pro
Our website for writers, producers and performers is growing bigger by the week... head to Opportunities Hub to find collaboration projects you can get involved in.
Podcasts
We've published thousands of hours of podcasts over the last decade. There's lots to laugh at: why not try Do The Right Thing? It's a riotous panel show hosted by Danielle Ward.
TV listings
Michael McIntyre: Showman
Michael McIntyre's latest stand-up show arrives on Netflix tomorrow. See our site for some preview clips. He recorded it at the London Palladium just before lockdown kicked in. (Remember that far back?)
Comedy Game Night
Joining Liza Tarbuck in her larger than life technicolour living room this week will be actress Sally Lindsay, The Wanted's Jay McGuiness, presenter Joe Swash and comedians Judi Love, Matt Richardson and Isy Suttie.
Two Weeks To Live
After kidnapping her daughter from Jimmy's, Tina is forced to return to the gangster's mansion with Kim, just in time to save Nicky and Jay from being executed.
A League Of Their Own
Dina Asher-Smith, Adam Peaty, Tom Davis, and Joel Dommett join the sports-based panel show this week for more questions and physical challenges.
The Russell Howard Hour
Russell Howard is back for a second week of standing in an empty studio. With social rules tightening again, hopefully he can find something to make us laugh.
Frankie Boyle's New World Order
Sara Pascoe, Miles Jupp, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Lucy Prebble are amongst the guests joining Frankie Boyle this Thursday.
Jonathan Ross' Comedy Club
Nigel Ng, Bec Hill and Jordan Brookes are amongst the comedians that Jonathan Ross will be showcasing this week. Kerry Godliman is the established act trying out some new material.
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
In this, the fifth episode, Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer go fishing for the elusive crucian carp in Wiltshire.
Harry Hill's World Of TV
Harry looks at food on the telly in this episode, from Fanny Craddock, through to Delia Smith, Mary Berry, Jamie Oliver's Naked Chef to Ainsley Harriott, MasterChef and Bake Off.
New on Radio 4 this week: the one-off comedy drama Not For Turning (Wednesday, 2:15pm), and new series of sketch shows The Damien Slash Mixtape (Wednesday, 11pm) and The Skewer (Thursday, 11pm). For a complete list of TV and radio broadcasts, including repeats, see our full schedule.
Shop
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Semi-DetachedThe real-time single-camera farce starring Lee Mack comes to DVD. With a brilliant cast in addition to Lee's lead - including Samantha Spiro, Ellie White, Geoff McGivern, Patrick Baladi and Neil Fitzmaurice - the comedy follows, in real-time, a succession of astoundingly dreadful, disaster-filled half hours in the life of family man and wedding DJ, Stuart. Living with his younger girlfriend and their new baby, plus his libertine father, directly opposite his newly-elected-MP former wife, their late-teenage daughter, and his ex's new husband, Stu dearly wishes for an easy ride - but life, neighbours and his extended family just keen on getting in the way: from on-the-run chancer brother Charlie, to sex-mad neighbours Barry and Sandy. Life in suburbia is anything but dull. |
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Richard Osman - The Thursday Murder ClubThe first book in a new series, The Thursday Murder Club, by TV presenter and producer Richard Osman. In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late? Released only about 10 days ago, initial sales and reception for the book have seen third and fourth volumes already confirmed by the publisher. |
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Monty Python's The Meaning Of LifeJohn Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin return to explain The Meaning of Life. These naughty Pythons offer the usual tasteful sketches involving favourite bodily parts and functions, the wonders of war, the miracle of birth and a special preview of what's waiting for us in Heaven. Nothing is too sacred for the probing Python crew. After seeing them in action, you'll never look at life in quite the same way again! This new Blu-ray release of the film - no the team's most celebrated, but including a range of brilliant songs - also features more than two hours of bonus features. |
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Micky Flanagan: What Chance Change?Based on his Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated show What Chance Change?, Micky Flanagan's debut radio series combines brilliant stand-up with insightful behind-the-scenes interviews to tell the story of his life from the 1970s to the 2000s. These five episodes chart the Cockney comedian's progression from working-class Herbert to middle-class intellectual giant - and being awkwardly caught between both worlds. Via hilarious jokes and sharply-observed comic routines, Micky takes us from the mean streets of the East End to the leafy lanes of East Dulwich, outlining his rise to fame from Billingsgate fish porter to successful entertainer. Broadcast in 2009-10, the series is already available to own as a digital download, and will be released on CD in October. |
For more, see our full list of new releases and items coming soon.
Comedy videos
The Art Team!
Here's the winner of our BCG Video Contest for September. It's a clip from a 1990s kids' TV show with a touch of innuendo about it, written and performed by Lead Pencil.
The Voice Kids UK Parody
Brilliant young impressionist Steff Todd takes The Voice Kids UK footage and parodies Emma Willis, Paloma Faith and Pixie Lott.
Allan Finnegan on Britain's Got Talent semi-final
Here's the clip of Baptist minister Allan Finnegan performing on the Britain's Got Talent 2020 semi-final.
The truth behind 'Beveragino'
Stunt coordinator Cam Smash talks us through the intensive production process during the making of the Beveragino video.
Ghosts - Series 2 Trailer
The trailer for the second series of the BBC sitcom. It starts on TV next Monday at 8:30pm.
100 Reasons To Hate... Amazon
Stand-up comedian Ian Smith is really angry with a certain shopping website and has 100 reasons to explain precisely why.
Taskmaster - Series 10 Trailer
Greg Davies and Alex Horne are back soon for a brand new series of Taskmaster... now on Channel 4. Here's the trailer.
Husbands of Britain vs. Joe Wicks
Has your wife had an accident that was Joe Wicks's fault? Then call Allen & St. Paul today and join the UK's largest-ever group litigation.
She's Asking For It
You can ask for anything if you're wearing a low cut top! A BBC Three Quickies sketch by comedy group Muriel, which has clocked up millions of views online.
Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father - Series 4 Trailer
Jack and Michael Whitehall head out on a fourth series of Travels With My Father on Netflix soon, and this time they're going down under. Join the duo as they tackle wild emus, visit the Sydney Opera House and attempt drag in Australia.
Avocado Addict
A mockumentary about a white-middle-class-straight-twenty-something-freelancer navigating her addiction to the fruit in question. Avvy's earnest 'appreciation' for avocados takes us on many paths, but when appreciation turns to addiction, where's the help she needs?
Spotlight
Crooks In Cloisters
Ronald Fraser, Bernard Cribbins, Melvyn Hayes and Wilfrid Brambell are amongst the stars in this mid-60s comedy feature, but it's Barbara Windsor who really shines. Fresh from her popular supporting role in BBC TV's The Rag Trade, and released just six weeks after her Carry On debut hit cinemas, she's the highly-skilled female member (and girlfriend of the leader) of a gang of London crooks who set up a bolt hole in a Cornish monastery. Hiding low from the Metropolitan Police, the gang set up an efficient operation in the monastery's cellars, forging bank notes, making 'antiques', repurposing high-end furs, and more, but it's attempting to keep up appearances for any locals by living a semi-normal monastic life that really affects this collection of assorted miscreants!
Thanks for reading
Rob Smyth has won the latest BCG Pro Gag-a-Week competition, which was themed around fruit.
Cantaloupe is the best fruit to eat if you don't want to run away and get married.
Don't forget, enter code flash101 to get £20 off a pass to our Laughter Lounge online comedy festival.
British Comedy Guide
www.comedy.co.uk
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