Johnny Vegas

Johnny Vegas on 'Ideal' axe: 'I was really cross'

Johnny Vegas has admitted that he was "really cross" when Ideal was axed.

Johnny Vegas: it's time to say goodbye to his alter-ego

His boozing, sharp-witted and crass alter-ego might have got him where he is today, but Michael Pennington, the man behind the mask, has finally revealed why it's time to say goodbye to Johnny Vegas.

Johnny Vegas on Johnny Vegas: 'I had no control'

The little-known Michael Pennington was born on September 11, 1972, but in the mid-1990s, kicking and screaming, he gave birth to Johnny Vegas.

Johnny Vegas needed two bottles of vodka for alter-ego

Michael Pennington, the man behind Britain's best loved slob Johnny Vegas, admits his comic creation is 'both a blessing and a curse'. At one stage he was drinking two bottles of vodka a day.

Has Johnny Vegas played his final gig?

"It was really hard regaining control of myself from Johnny. In the end he was quite manipulative. I am reluctant to let Johnny back out the box again," says Michael Pennington, the man behind the persona.

Johnny Vegas: 'I had no fear of death'

Channelling an 18-stone drunken loudmouth made him a national icon - but endangered his health, his reputation and his family. Michael Pennington tells Emine Saner how he escaped Johnny Vegas.

In the spirit of full disclosure: I actively dislike Celebrity Juice. I'm not even sure why I'm reviewing it; watching Celebrity Juice makes me feel dirty in all the wrong ways. It is like comedic torture.

For those blissfully unaware of Celebrity Juice, it is a 'celebrity entertainment' panel show. Keith Lemon (Leigh Francis) is your host: a tanned, bleached, ginger-moustached Yorkshireman. His team captains are attractive, large breasted blonde Holly Willoughby and attractive, large-breasted brunette Kelly Brook. Guests this week include Connor Maynard (yeah, I'd never heard of him either), Richard Madley, Johnny Vegas and Dermot O'Leary. The show is made up of a series of challenges and games, and the winning team of each game wins some points.

I can't say much positive about it, other than Johnny Vegas was pretty good. But it's not hard for someone genuinely funny to stand out in this sort of setup. I would imagine the show's main target demographic is the sort of person who thinks that changing someone's Facebook status to "I'm gay" is the height of comedy (Ha ha ha - isn't human sexuality hilarious...). How it has quite so many fans just completely baffles me. Maybe the average person relates to jokes about boobies, muffs and wank jokes. Is this what it has come to?

Johnny Vegas praises the idea of art schools

Johnny Vegas leads calls to break down the barriers that are restricting art education to an elite.

Like very many sketch shows, It's Kevin has been patchy. Like very few, it's been admirably reluctant to recycle material or characters, displayed an impressive breadth of reference (tonight, from the relaxing properties of dubstep to Picasso's early years via Carry On films and Dr Seuss) and boasted a few skits destined to go down as classics.

Nestling alongside the Amish Sex Pistols in the hall of fame tonight is Classic Threats magazine, 'about things that don't seem quite so scary any more'. You know, like the Millennium Bug or homosexuals. The self-referential links haven't always worked in spite of a parade of guest stars - Johnny Vegas chips in tonight as a close-up magician - but such a steady stream of invention and readiness to toy with format should surely be rewarded with a second series. If only to find out whether Kevin resolves his crush on the lovely Wendy Wilson...

Two more shorts for what is effectively a showcase for comic talent old and new, playing interconnected characters all living in Clapham. Johnny Vegas co-writes and stars in the first as Rupert, bereaved proprietor of the Kinky Ink tattoo parlour, whose dad has left him in hock to effete local villain Paul Kaye. It doesn't rise above the sadness of its predicament, however. More successful is Fergus & Crispin, played by Toms Sourton and Palmer, a pair of plummily clueless entrepreneurs. Victorian bingo, anyone?