Lenny Henry

Radio 4 Extra - Comedy controller: Alexei Sayle

One of the great moments when Alexei Sayle interviews Lenny Henry on Radio 4's Chain Reaction is when Lenny tells him how nervous he was about first meeting him in 1981.

Video: Lenny Henry on his Pop Life

Lenny Henry tells us about how his love of music is the inspiration for his new stand-up tour.

Lenny says he has an electic taste in music and tells us about how he is learning the piano and playing it live on stage as part of the tour!

Lenny Henry's UK tour 'Pop Life' is on now.

Happy Birthday, Chef, a.k.a. Lenny Henry

Here's wishing a coveted third Michelin star to Le Chateau Anglais and Chef Gareth Blackstock for his alter ego, Lenny Henry's 54th birthday today.

Lenny Henry on his new cartoon role

Comedian Lenny Henry is looking a bit animated - after being turned into a cartoon.

Frank Carson fans line streets of Belfast for funeral

Late comic described as 'prime minister of fun' during service attended by Lenny Henry and Dennis Taylor among others.

Lenny Henry goes public with new love Lisa

Lenny Henry and his girlfriend, producer Lisa Makin, are ready to take a more public approach to their relationship. The actor stepped out with his new love - who bears more than a passing resemblance to his ex-wife Dawn French.

Lenny Henry to explore Shakespeare in ITV1 documentary

Lenny Henry is to front a documentary for ITV in which he explores his relationship with Shakespeare.

To an entire generation, Griff Rhys Jones might be famous for being the man who takes Rory McGrath and Dara O'Briain sailing, climbs mountains, and presents It'll Be Alright On The Night.

The last in this series of three sees him back at the BBC performing the kind of sketches that made him a household name on Not The Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones.

And while the humour is so comfortably old-fashioned your first impression might be that these sketches have been sitting in a drawer since the 1990s, on closer inspection you'll see that there's a whole new bunch of modern obsessions to joke about.

The Reservoir Dogs spoof featuring Griff as Mr Green and former EastEnder Larry Lamb is a lovely mix of the old and the new. But one sketch about firearms in schools, is so mis-judged it wouldn't be a laughing matter in this or any decade.

Griff's other guest stars, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander and Kevin McNally, are well chosen.

But the real draw of the night sees him reunited with his comedy and business partner Mel Smith for a brand new head-to-head sketch - their first together in 16 years.

After resurrecting the comedy of Lenny Henry and Jasper Carrott, there are plenty of other folk who were funny in the 80s who we'd like to see dusted off. More please.

Before I start I should point out that I've never really been a huge fan of Lenny Henry, but I must admit that The One Lenny Henry wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. For me his stand-up was better than his sketches, particularly the material about film piracy and trying not to be funny when performing Othello.

However, most of the sketches were a bit dull, lacklustre in places and in several cases thought he was overshadowed by those alongside him; in particular Peter Serafinowicz and Omid Djalili.

On a final note, during the show Henry gave a short rant about obituaries, saying that when he dies his will probably read "Premier Inn Bloke Dies." I'd just like to say: "Whose fault is that exactly, Lenny?"

Review: The One Lenny Henry (BBC1)

I'm guessing this Friday night slot would have gone to Stephen K. Amos, had his own show not flopped so catastrophically last year. So instead the BBC have revived their only other black comedian of note: the enduring Lenny Henry, who appears to have stopped ageing since 1995.