Clik here to view.
The Rolf Harris sex ‘arrest’ – Why was he NOT named and why did the police...
Yesterday’s front page Sun ‘exclusive’ Yesterday, the Sun newspaper ran what it called a World Exclusive under the headline. ROLF HARRIS SEX ABUSE ARREST To most people, the word ‘arrest’ means that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jimmy O: a ‘blackballed’ comic inspired by Jerry Sadowitz & Bernard Manning
Jimmy O chats in a Wigan internet cafe yesterday via Skype A couple of months ago, I saw Waves of Laughter, an episode of BBC2 TV documentary series Funny Business. It was about comedians performing on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to become famous overnight on TV, according to magician Paul Daniels
An extraordinarily good London Varieties show every month I went to see multi-talented Mat Ricardo’s monthly London Varieties at the Leicester Square Theatre last night – a show so good it could...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Chris Dangerfield’s new Edinburgh Fringe show is not the true story of...
Chris Dangerfield with a suspiciously sweaty forehead “There’s two interviews I did with you which I don’t remember doing,” Chris Dangerfield told me yesterday in London’s Soho Square. “When we had...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is the comedy business more important to the UK than the financial industry?
Dr Brett Mills, ‘Principal Investigator’ of comedy Yesterday, the Daily Telegraph reported that the UK’s creative industries generate £36 billion per year for the economy and employ 1.5 million people....
View ArticleClik here to view.
BBC: “You could not piss on the Queen and you had to be careful about Ireland”
(A version of this piece was also published on the Indian news site WSN) As I am currently on jury service in a city somewhere in England, I was interested to hear last night a quote from Robert Mark...
View ArticleClik here to view.
God and a joke told to me in Ireland
Back in the mists of thirteen years ago there was Tara TV… I see that the RTÉ Player is now downloadable from the Apple App Store, giving access in the UK to Irish TV shows. Thirteen years ago, I was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Comedian Barry Ferns, climber of dead Edinburgh Fringe volcanoes, bakes well
Barry Ferns, comedian, caterer and oft climber of volcanoes On Friday, comedian Barry Ferns cooked me a baked potato at his home in Maida Vale, London. If this comedy lark does not work out for him, he...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eggs acting standards: yesterday I was beaten by Simon Cowell’s stand-in
(A version of this piece was also published on the Indian news site WSN) Andy – out standing in his own field Yesterday, I went to the 8th annual World Egg Throwing Championships at Swaton in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Comedians, coincidences, cocaine and yet another Edinburgh Fringe accident
It’s around the corner in Soho, where other broken people go It’s a small world in oh so many ways – a small world with lots of coincidences – Prague, television, Bar Italia and the Edinburgh Fringe....
View ArticleClik here to view.
What the stand-up comedian shouted at the audience who did not laugh at him…
In my more pretentious moments, I think maybe this blog occasionally reflects subcultures in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. A few years ago, I went to see a comedian. He no longer performs...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why you can do nothing if the BBC or anyone else steals your TV or film idea
Justice, as always, is blind in the UK I went to a Creative England ‘crew night’ at Elstree Studios last night. In theory, these evenings are a chance for people to sell their services – as camera...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The night comedian Julian Clary joked that he had “fisted” politician Norman...
DAVID JOHNSON, ON WHOSE ANECDOTE THIS PARTICULAR BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY CENTRED HAS ASKED ME TO DELETE THE BLOG, WHICH I HAVE REFUSED TO DO – I THINK IT IS A FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO A VIVIDLY REMEMBERED...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Journalist Garry Bushell talks about being accused of hating gay men
Yesterday’s original blog Yesterday’s blog started as an I think interesting piece in which theatre producer David Johnson remembered Piers Morgan at the 1993 British Comedy Awards reacting to Julian...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dan March: Santa Claus via BBC TV’s “Miranda” sitcom & an Auschwitz man
Dan March – right – and (in Santa role) left What is it with comedy people I know being Father Christmas in department stores this year? Last month in my blog, it turned out Bob Slayer was being a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why comedian Richard Herring thinks creating free comedy will make money
A ‘selfie’ taken by Richard Herring last week Richard Herring’s career and credits are a bit like Irish or Balkan politics or his hair – you could go mad trying to disentangle it. Go read Wikipedia....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Comedian Richard Herring on financing his own TV series and an alternative to...
Richard Herring ponders online meaning In my blog a couple of days ago, Richard Herring chatted to me about creating free content like blogs and podcasts as a way to generate paying punters for his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Richard Herring on buying back his own TV series from the BBC, not being more...
Richard Herring’s new self-financed 6-part online TV series In two of my blogs earlier this week, comedian Richard Herring talked to me first about creating free content like his podcasts to entice...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Writer/performer Jenny Eclair – from German beer commercials to Splashing
Jenny Eclair was making a big Splash! on ITV1 last weekend “You’re all over the place,” I said to Jenny Eclair. “What are you?” “I’m a writer/performer.” “Performing just seems like a form of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Hated’ comic Alexander Bennett has an interest in serial killers’ lives &...
Alexander yesterday in London’s Chinatown By paragraph 11 of this blog, I stare in open-eyed amazement at comedian Alexander Bennett and say WHAAAAAAAATTT???? Alexander first performed at the Edinburgh...
View Article