British Comedy

'A part of me is cavalier about survival... I can be a lunatic at times' - Rhod Gillbert and Angela Barnes on tackling one of the world's most dangerous roads

Comic returns to an early stand-up show... and the rest of the week's live comedy picks

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/7568784

If you, like us, were saddened to hear that Our Flag Means Death won't return for a third season, then here's something to cheer the heart of anyone looking for a new hapless-numpty-looks-to-kick-start-a-life-of-crime comedy. Yes, that is actual The Mighty Boosh star Noel Fielding (perhaps more widely known these days for hosting the Bake-Off) in new comedy drama series The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin heading our way via Apple TV+. Take a look at the trailer…

The show, sees Fielding as Turpin who, according to the official synopsis, "Sets out on a journey of wildly absurd escapades when he’s made the reluctant leader of a band of outlaws — and tasked with outwitting corrupt lawman and self-appointed thief-taker Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville). Turpin is the most famous but least likely of highway robbers, whose success is defined mostly by his charm, showmanship and great hair. Together with his gang of lovable rogues, Turpin rides the highs and lows of his new endeavors, including a brush with celebrity, all whilst trying to escape the clutches of the thief-taker."

Greg Davies says: “I’m as pleased as can be to have Wicky mop up more gore during his next existential crisis. The Cleaner is such a pleasure to make and I can’t wait to welcome a new gang of guest characters to his bloody work place.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/7514853

Steve Coogan will reprise the role of Alan Partridge for a new mockumentary following the fictional presenter as he reintegrates into life in the UK after a year working in Saudi Arabia.

In six 30-minute episodes, the documentary about homecoming would morph into an exploration of the mental health issues facing the UK, said its makers.

The series, called And Did Those Feet … With Alan Partridge (ADTFWAP), will follow Partridge as he realises something is missing from his life.

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The series is one of six new comedy shows announced by Petrie, with Greg Davies’s The Cleaner and Man Like Mobeen from Guz Khan slated to return.

She's venturing right up the universe and everything, to find the definitive answer to the ultimate question – the meaning of life

Arthur Strong's 'farewell tour' and the rest of the week's best live comedy

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The cast of The Fast Show are reuniting for a live tour to celebrate the sketch show’s 30th anniversary.

Today (January 25), it was announced that An Evening With The Fast Show will run between February and April 2024, with cast members Simon Day, Charlie Higson, John Thomson, Paul Whitehouse, Mark Williams, and Arabella Weir all featuring.

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“This celebratory live tour will be a huge treat for fans of the multi-award winning quick-fire TV sketch show and provide a real behind-the-scenes insight into some of their favourite characters and catchphrases as they come alive on stage once again.

“The cast will chat together about how it all began, how they made the TV show, and created the characters and the fun they had doing it. This will be interspersed with performances of some of their best-loved sketches monologues and songs, with on-screen inserts and a moment to remember their former collaborator, the late, great Caroline Aherne.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/7206068

Something to cheer a January of storms, floods and diverted flights: Ian Hislop on the history of jokes. If my editors scrapped the rest of this review and printed just that sentence I think readers would be persuaded that there was something worth listening to this week.

Ian Hislop’s Oldest Jokes(on BBC Sounds and Radio 4) starts with the first English joke. Or the first joke about the English. Confronted with some attractive slaves in a marketplace Pope Gregory I is supposed to have quipped “non Angli sed Angeli” (“not Angles but angels”). Hislop is delighted by this.

More hesitant is Jonathan Wilcox (author of the unpromisingly titled Humour in Old English Literature), who hesitantly concedes that old English literature contains jokes that “might have been perceived possibly by some to have been funny”. But nothing can disrupt Hislop’s optimism. He chortles his way through the double entendre-ridden Anglo-Saxon riddles preserved in the Exeter Book: “A curious thing hangs by a man’s thigh … it is stiff and hard … When the man lifts his own garment he intends to greet with the head of his hanging object that familiar hole.” The polite answer is “key”. You may guess the rude one.

I also enjoyed the following exchange. Hislop: “Tell me about any other jokes. Are there any in the Anglo-Saxon chronicles?”

Expert: “Pffft. Not really.”

Main page in Radio 4

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TL;DR:

The BBC has confirmed that the entire second season will air weekly on BBC Two, starting on Monday 5th February at 10pm, with all eight episodes available to stream as a boxset on BBC iPlayer on that date.

Ickelwick FM and the rest of the week's best comedy on TV, radio and streaming

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The week's best comedy on TV, radio and streaming

The best of the week's live comedy

The best of the week's comedy on TV, radio and on demand

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Former home secretary Suella Braverman was duped into accepting a comedy show’s “Dick of the Year” award while launching a small boat in her constituency.

Pranksters invited the Tory MP to officially launch “Fareham Fishing” - a bogus angling company - as part of a segment for Channel 4’s Last Leg programme.

Ms Braverman, unaware, accepted the invitation from YouTube pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners.

As she cuts a red ribbon with her head turned, the two pranksters unveil a sign saying, ‘The Last Leg’s Dick of the Year 2023, Suella Braverman.’

The duo then personally gives Ms Braverman the prize before walking off the pier.

After an awkward few moments, a slightly stunned-looking Ms Braverman can be seen looking toward her staff before saying: “I’m not sure what that is all about”.

Video clip on TikTok

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