Over 500 people packed into the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury avenue, to enjoy a Comedy Benefit Night show that only comes around once in a lifetime. There seemed more stars than the night sky. All giving their time free to support their colleague Jim Tavare who had been through an horrendous car accident and now faced…
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[slideshow_deploy id=’2695′] We are pleased to announce a Comedy Benefit night for Jim Tavare at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London on Monday 12th June 2017. The support from his colleagues has been amazing and the bill of comics performing that evening reads like a who’s who of modern stand up. Dara O Briain, Jo…
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Nowadays, Comedy Impressions and Impressionists are a rare sight on stage and screen. This art form has been left behind with flared trousers and the eighties word processor. Comedians are now more observational, chatty, satirical and find no room for impressionism within their acts. A vocal jamboree of celebrity characters is seen as ‘old hat’…
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Farce is never an easy form of theatre to succeed in. Yet Ray Cooney has made it his lifetimes ambition and work to create some of our best loved and well written British Farce. ‘Out of Order’ is not one of Cooney’s best (even though it won an Laurence Oliver award for Best Comedy 1991)…
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Following it’s humble beginning at the Old Red Lion, Islington (2012) ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ is drawing strong audiences in its West End run. It further gained attention after appearing on the Royal Variety Show and has since gone from strength to strength. This is the play that turns slapstick comedy into an intelligent,…
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In the weekend of the Oscars, millions are glued to their screens awaiting the much-coveted awards. Once a film becomes popular, the genre is often copied by others. In recent years, the human race has become more enamoured with the idea of How To Survive The End Of The World. Survive The End Of The…
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At the end of a conference it is refreshing for delegates to look forward to the evening dinner and entertainment. At this event a German company, with a subsidiary in Britain organised a French comedian to entertain it’s 90% male UK workforce containing an abundance of Scotsmen, Irish and a some English, all in relaxed…
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Liz Smith was one of those actresses you immediately recognise, then struggle to think what she has been in. ‘Oh she was in .. that .. er? It is because she appeared in so many parts in TV & Film in the last forty years we don’t always necessarily identify her with just one or…
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Milton Jones ticks all the boxes to be a great stand up comedian. He is quiet, introverted, unassuming plus when off stage he never does material. He’s not a gossip or seldom speaks unless spoken to, but you know something deep is going on in that head. What comedically comes out of his mind is…
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Those of you who remember ‘Not the Nine O’clock News’ (BBC 1979 -83), ‘Spitting Image’ (ITV 1984 -96) and the ‘The Blackadder’ sitcom series (BBC 1983-89) may not realise what these shows had in common. Well, all of them were originally produced by John Lloyd who went on to make some of the most important…
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The first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau were gently mixed with some comedy, light music and Camembert cheese at the county ground on Thursday 17th November. This being the first day of the season for such a celebrated French wine, much loved around the world, particularly in its home country where corks were pulled in great…
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‘Doing the actual job of being a stand up comedian isn’t the problem’ an experienced comic once told me. ‘It’s all the bloody travelling which gets in the way’ he said. Well, have a look at this travel itinerary; Started from Loire Valley (France) at 6:30am, forty-minute drive from Vierzon, an hour half train to…
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Jimmy Perry was best known as an influential TV comedy writer of the 60’, 70’s and 80’s. His writing partnership with David Croft (1922-2011) formed the backbone of so much of BBC sitcom in that period. The two wrote together Dad’s Army (1968–1977), It Ain’t Half Hot Mum (1974–1981), Hi-De-Hi (1980–1988) and You Rang M’Lord?…
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Beat the Clock The ‘Beat the clock’ section of the show was a product of American television. Manager of the Palladium Jack Parnell saw it, liked the idea of audience participation that it involved, and clinched a deal to sandwich ‘Beat the clock’ between the show’s two commercial breaks. The concept was simple but very…
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Sunday Night at the London Palladium began at 8:00pm on September 23 1955 with Gracie Fields and Guy Mitchell sharing top billing. The TV audience was estimated at around 350,000 a figure that today would not excite producers of a small cable channel, but then ITV was just three years old and available only in…
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A Famous Theatre The London Palladium is one of the most well-known theatres in the world. It is situated in London’s West End, Argyll street, just off Oxford Circus. its proud columns pay tribute to the kings of comedy and entertainment who have worked this now famous grade two listed building which was first built…
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Anyone who wants to perform comedy would dream of having facial features like Gene Wilder, wonderfully expressive with eyes that communicated great emotion often combined with a classical acting technique approach to his in work. Comedian Jim Carrey describing Wilder as ‘one of the funniest and sweetest energies ever to take a human form’. Indeed,…
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Having been pushed to the back as a child actor during the filming of ‘Chitty Chitty, Bang, Bang’ as he looked to healthy for a starving child in the famous cave scene. Martin Beaumont went on to star on Saturday night TV in the eighties. When the show was cancelled Martin redefined himself as a…
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Check out some of the funniest and most comical Quiz Show Contestant Bloomers, gaffes, errors, mistakes and slip ups. LINCS FM PHONE-IN Presenter: Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world? Contestant: Barcelona. Presenter: I was really after the name of a country. Contestant: I’m sorry, I don’t know the names of any countries…
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Check out some of the funniest and most comical Quiz Show Contestant Gaffes, bloomers, errors, mistakes and slip ups. UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2) Jeremy Paxman: What is another name for ‘cherrypickers’ and ‘cheesemongers’? Contestant: Homosexuals ?. Jeremy Paxman: No. They’re regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you. BEG, BORROW OR STEAL…
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Having over five hundred autobiographies on my office shelf of various sports stars, show-business personalities in particular comedians and the odd politician, there is always some book I come across which for some reason has passed me by. One such publication was Arthur Smith’s entitled ‘My name is Daphne Fairfax’ (2009) in reference to a…
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Richard Inverne visits Straford upon Avon, in search of some Comedy by Shakespeare. 1. Putting on Comedy by Shakespeare The FIRST way to enjoy a Shakespeare comedy… is the play has to be put on! What might seem obvious simply wasn’t the case on Tuesday 19 July when arriving in Stratford-upon-Avon for a handful of…
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Caroline Aherne was a character actress and comedian who made some wonderful original TV shows in the nineties. ‘Royal Family’ and ‘Mrs Merton’ were probably her most noted but she also starred in the cast of ‘The Fast show’ from 1994-1997, becoming known for the catchphrase ‘Scorchio’ delivered by her foreign weather girl character. Comedian…
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Southwest Airlines president & CEO, Herbert D. Kelleher was dubbed by Fortune Magazine as the ‘High Priest of Ha Ha’. His beliefs and attitude has spread right through the company; showing how Office Comedy can enhance staff-management relations, customer service and profits. Office Comedy Case Study This highly effective airline operates from Dallas, in an…
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