TV review: Frayed, Sky One

It's funny but one senses by the end of the first episode, that maybe like those monologues, there is something darker lurking under the surface.

Focus on: Paul Putner

Every bit the comedian's comedian, Paul Putner is the performer who you don't know that you know. Jay Richardson speaks to more than a jobbing actor.

Fringe 10x10: ten theatre shows

Our build-up to the Edinburgh Fringe starts here! As always we'll take a look at ten shows in each of ten semi-arbitrary categories to preview what you might expect to see this festival. First up, ten comedy-related shows - in no particular order - that you may overlook as they are in the theatre section of the programme....

Review: Urban Myths - Trump & Andy Warhol, Sky Arts

A great cast is well-served by a strong script by Ben Boyer.

Review: The Road To Brexit, BBC2

I didn't write about this Matt Berry one-off written by Arthur Mathews earlier because I assumed it would be postponed when Brexit was postponed. Instead it is going full steam ahead, so at least there is something to laugh about at the moment.

Road To Brexit review

The one-off Road To Brexit is a bit of an oddity, as much funny peculiar as funny ha-ha; but with so much calamitous news surrounding our chaotic leaving of the EU, it's good to have a laugh that isn't dependent upon cynical views of the political shambles, and is simply just daft instead.

Radio Times review

As the series that forms the BBC's sole bastion of alternative comedy continues, Lee deconstructs the idiocy of false nostalgia and knee-jerk xenophobia by examining Ukip's fears that Britain is about to be "swamped" by Bulgarian immigrants.

While observing that the Bulgarians are merely the latest scapegoats in an eternal stampede of small-minded cultural hysteria, he takes familiar bigoted arguments to their absurd conclusions. It's typically audacious stuff: when was the last time you found a reference to the ancient Beaker People in a stand-up comedy routine?

Meanwhile, hostile interrogator Chris Morris takes the crumpled comedian to task over his disingenuous methods and dwindling sense of purpose. Morris simply shaking his head in mute dismay is one of the funniest moments in the whole episode.

And watch out for a truly bizarre filmed epilogue starring those twin titans of cult character comedy, Kevin Eldon and Paul Putner.

I probably only caught half of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, mainly because I can appreciate Lee's skill and sharpness but he just comes across as insufferably smug to me. And I like miserabalist, cynical comedy. I also wasn't a fan of the way brief sketches featuring Kevin Eldon, Paul Putner and Simon Munnery would interrupt Lee's standup, often to pointlessly visualize a punchline or joke. It's unnecessary and, personally, I believe it goes against what makes stand-up work - destroying that ephemeral mindspace between comedian and audience. The beauty that allows someone telling a joke to have it interpreted and visualized in a million different ways inside the heads of those who hear it. I don't need, or want, sketches that ram home the point of Lee's words.

Anyway, while it's not a show that leaves me feeling satisfied and laughing heartily throughout, it undoubtedly has a weight of intelligence behind it, so if you're attuned to Lee's deadpan style and tendency to milk phrases dry for comic effect, then you're probably very glad it's coming back.