LaughRiot.co.uk

Good News coming back

Peekay — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:24:27 +0000

Russell Howard returns to BBC Three this spring with a brand new series of Russell Howard’s Good News. The show’s debut run was the most requested BBC Three programme on iPlayer last year, and the channel’s most successful studio-based entertainment show ever drawing in 2.5 million viewers a week.

With each episode put together just days before transmission, there’s no knowing what will feature in the first show, but the new series will see Russell turn news-junkie once again as he puts his spin on the week’s headlines, as well as highlighting some of the more overlooked stories that have caught his eye as he sifts through the papers, news websites and TV news channels.

Russell Howard’s Good News is recorded in front of a live studio audience but viewers at home will have the chance to shape the news agenda by submitting stories online at www.bbc.co.uk/russellhoward (where you will also be able to view exclusive extra features) or via Twitter at www.twitter.com/bbcgoodnews. The series will run for seven weeks, followed by an hour-long best of, which will also feature previously unseen footage.

Gorman announces more Genius moments.

Peekay — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:08:54 +0000

Dave Gorman has announced on his blog that the BBC have decided to commission another of his Genius series.

Gorman wrote, “I said in my last post that there might be some good news to announce soon… well, here it is.

“We’ve got the go ahead to make a new series of Genius for BBC2. Which means the hunt for new geniuses is stepped up once again.”

The series transferred successfully to TV after starting life on BBC Radio 4 – a familiar route for comedy shows.

“The best way to submit ideas is via the Genius website where you can either e-mail the team or upload a video of you explaining your idea.”

The Genius website is http://www.bbc.co.uk/genius/

Keith Farnan arrives at Soho Theatre

Peekay — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:42:39 +0000

Whilst working in a restaurant in the USA, Keith came across this old-fashioned sign in the manager’s office. Stranger still is that the employees consisted of a young African-American, a Jewish waiter and his Irish self, but no dogs to be seen, so perhaps certain prejudices never die. ‘No Blacks. No Jews. No Dogs. No Irish. All Welcome’ is the exploration into racism and religion-ism in the bad old days as well as the issues raised by immigration today.

Critically acclaimed comic Keith Farnan has always found being Irish an advantage – who doesn’t love a good old Irish accent whilst sipping on a pint of stout? But it wasn’t always like this and signs such as “No Irish Need Apply” were commonplace where the Irish landed in droves. So what happened to change people’s mind? And how have the Irish treated their own immigrants over the years?

A former qualified solicitor practicing in litigation, Keith has performed all over the world, from the Boston International Comedy Festival to the Middle East. His debut show ‘Cruel and Unusual’, a comedy show against the Death Penalty in America, garnered much attention from media and punters alike at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and went on to become part of the Royal Festival Halls Xmas Festival in London as well as the N20 Comedy Festival and a feature on BBC Radio 4.

So in this hilarious hour of political queries and investigation, expect lots of questions, very few answers but plenty of laughs! It’s the perfect way to start St Patrick’s Day!

Keith Farnan
NO BLACKS. NO JEWS. NO DOGS. NO IRISH. ALL WELCOME.
Irish Comedian Versus Racism, Religion–ism and Immigration-ism

VENUE: The Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
DATE: 17th – 20th March 2010
TIME: 9:45pm
PRICE: £12 / £10
BOX OFFICE: 0207 4780100 / www.sohotheatre.com

Addison set to tour

Peekay — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:08:23 +0000

Chris Addison, star of BBC TWO’s BAFTA winning comedy “The Thick Of It” who recently appeared in the Award winning “In The Loop”, is to embark on a 40-date national tour with his first new stand up show since 2005’s Perrier Award nominated Atomicity. The tour will start from 5th February 2010.

Fresh from the latest critically acclaimed series of The Thick Of It, CHRIS can also be heard hosting 7 Day Sunday, a new live topical show on BBC Radio 5 Live and is set to appear in the new series of Channel 4’s Skins.

The tour sees Chris return to the stand up that made his name and promises his trademark mix of daftness, whimsy, jokes, lies, smartarsery, and flapping about. Chris says: “I’m really excited to be going back out on the road. I’ve got a packet of Werther’s Originals in the glovebox, a voucher for 20p off any non-meat Ginsters product purchased at Welcome Break service stations before the end of February, a flask of Bovril and a whole bunch of new jokes and stories. Now if I can just work out how to get this Sat Nav to stop giving instructions in Danish I’ll be all set.”

Get full and updated tour details at Chris’ website.

Gorman extra tour dates

Peekay — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:56:56 +0000

In 2009 Dave Gorman did two things at the same time. He set out to cycle between the four corners of the British mainland, from south to east to west to north – and, five years after he last toured the UK, do a gig each night. 1500 miles. 33 days. 32 gigs. 4 lighthouses.

Gorman survived the cycling, ticking off Lizard Point, Lowestoft Ness, Ardnamurchan Point and Dunnet Head along the way and the gigs sold out (in venues ranging from the 2000 seats in Bristol’s Colston Halls to the 32 folk who could fit into the Glenfinnan Railway Station Dining Car). However, some people were upset. They were upset because the tour didn’t come to their local theatre. Angry e-mails were written. Explanations were demanded. People are strange like that. The fact that the tour followed a particular route for a particular reason – that it was planned as a bike ride before it ever became a tour – didn’t seem to placate them. So… to meet the extraordinary demand, DAVE decided to extend the tour into 2010. But this time without cycling from venue to venue. Because cycling from Dorking to Belfast would be silly. There’s a sea in the way. He’s obviously getting lazy.

Of course that means that now only the last bit of the title makes sense. But look at it from his point of view. Same show, fewer blisters. What would you do?

Mind you from the audience’s point of view it doesn’t matter because it’s not a show about the journey anyway: the two were connected purely in matters geographical. DAVE – whose hit Radio 4 series, Genius, started its BBC TWO incarnation on our TV screens in spring 2009 – may be widely acclaimed as the pioneer of documentary comedy but with this show he’s gone back to his roots as a straight up, one-man-and-a-mic stand-up.

Check out the full list of dates at Dave’s website.

A Comedy Christmas

Peekay — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:54:14 +0000

West-london club Knock2Bag have announced the line-up for their 2009 Christmas Party.

Nina Conti, Boy With Tape on his face and Colin Hoult are joined by Joe Lycett, Barry from Watford and a top secret special guest. The 16th December evening is hosted by Eddie ‘Best Newcomer’ nominee 2009, Carl Donnelly.

You can get tickets in advance, or find out more at K2B’s website.

Pozzitive connection

Peekay — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:17:31 +0000

Want to get a little friendlier with your comedy faves? Well now you can as Pozzitive, the production company responsible for hit shows such as Harry Enfield and Chums and Little Britain, is continuing its social media campaign with the launch of its new comedy Facebook page.

Following the success of the YouTube Channel and Flickr group; the Facebook page will host exclusive images, video and brand new material from top comedians such as Jo Caulfield and Milton Jones as well as classic selections from the Pozzitive archive spanning 20 years.

Become a fan here.

Pablo Francisco: Bits and Pieces DVD

Luke Todd — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:28:31 +0000

Pablo is a US comic who appears to have created his own cult following having featured in several popular animations including ‘Family Guy’ and ‘The Simpsons’. Last month he also crossed over the Atlantic to do a stand-up gig in East London.

Pablo Francisco’s present comedy show ‘Bits and Pieces’ is a recording made at a small comedy club. Pablo dances his way on to the stage in a robotic sequence which both bears a resemblance to a certain David Brent (Ricky Gervais) and also leads nicely in to his first routine.

Francisco is a star and this is made clear from a very appreciative audience. From a distance, Pablo could be mistaken for Ben Stiller, but that is definitely where the comparisons end.

The strongest elements of the show are when Pablo provides both physical and visual humour that everyone can relate to whether or not they are American. Unfortunately a lot of the material is based on and uses words that are not familiar with those outside of the US.

The comedian appears to be as charming as Michael McIntyre yet is more than happy to throw in plenty of strong language limiting his appeal to a more mature and specialist audience.

Pablo’s imitations are a highlight of the show. These impressions are very important as they form a central focus to the act. Some of the best parts are when he makes imitations of Spanish music and also DJs remarking that they all sound as though they are Dracula. Some of his gags could easily fall flat if they were not handled and present so cleverly, although at points, there seems to be some hostility between the performer and his audience.

Francisco reveals that he has had a new hair-cut which leads on to a strong and developed narrative all about hair-dressers and barbers. Sections of the material work better than others and admittedly small parts could be strung together a little more effectively. However, as the name of the show suggests, this presents a random selection of his best bits and pieces.

The majority of the funniness is quite sexual, subjects such as Viagra, having sex and talking dirty, are all covered in a relatively short and tight show that is less than an hour in length. The most popular sketch is Pablo’s imitation of movie trailer voiceovers. This is then used to great effect to promote a fictional blockbuster ‘Little Tortilla Boy’ which is very amusing and has already become a hit on the online video community YouTube

Pablo is unlikely to take the UK by storm although it is likely that he may find yet another small stream audience particularly if he can work some of his magic on our own society and culture. The show is unlikely to have you laughing throughout but you are sure to find some amusement in the situations that Pablo Francisco has come across.

Great lineup to help The Fix

Peekay — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:43:22 +0000

Featuring a mixture of the UK’s best established and up and coming comic talent such as Angelos Epithemious (Shooting Stars), Kevin Eldon (Big Train, Brass Eye, Alan Partridge), Pappy’s fun club, Edinburgh comedy award winner Tim Key and many more, ‘The Un-royal Variety’ performance aims to be the last great comedy gig of the decade. All profits from the gig will go to paying the Fix’s legal fees.

The Fix the UK’s and possibly the worlds only and best loved comedy magazine has long been run out of editor and publisher Harry Deansway’s bedroom at his parent’s house. 6 months ago this was all set to change when a friend of the family offered investment in the magazine and use of his offices. It all seemed to be too good to be true and it was when 6 months later this so called friend of the family decided to call in his loan with immediate effect and evict the Fix from his offices. The Fix did not have the money to pay back the loan straight away and therefore the “friend” of the family decided to sue.

Harry Deansway – “As I found myself back to square 1 back at the birthplace of the magazine Chez family Deansway I needed to come up with a plan to raise the money to pay back the loan with immediate effect and avoid going to debtors prison so there could be further issues of the magazine. When my Dad refused to put it on his credit card due to already having put £15,000 of previous debt on it I decided to assemble a bill of the ten finest comedians working in the UK today many of whom have featured in the magazine over the last few years, the response has been overwhelming with comedians rallying round, many offering to perform for no fee in order to save the magazine.”

What better time than the festive season for us to get our begging bowl out as we try to avert the collapse of the UK’s favourite/ only comedy magazine. The Fix has always been about showcasing the wealth of comedy talent on offer in the UK some of whom often find it hard to get their voice heard over the loud din of populist observational humorists and bloated panel show stalwarts. What the unroyal variety performance hopes to do is provide a platform for the excellent lesser known acts by putting them on the bill with more established acts at a big venue. The event has been borne out of the necessity for the Fix magazine to raise finances in order to pay it’s legal costs for a crime it did not commit, however if successful we would hope to run the night as a yearly event that would have the same effect for the newer comedians that the Royal Variety performance has for the more established mainstream ones. .

Venue:             THE BLOOMSBURY THEATRE, 15 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AH
Date:                Monday 21ST December
Tickets:            £22.50, Concessions £18.50
Doors:              19.30 show 20.30
Box Office:       020 7388 8822

Knock2Bag headlined by Tim Key

Peekay — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:44:07 +0000

Knock2Bag, the LaughRiot fave in West London’s Shepherds Bush continues its tradition of strong-bills with this November’s show.

Tim Key headlines a great line-up that includes Idiots of Ants, Dan Clark, Adam Riches and Delete The Banjax. Resident comic Brian Gittins also appears while MC Nick Helm will keep things moving along.

The November 18th gig is at the usual K2B venue of Bar FM, 184 Hopgood Street in Shepherds Bush.

Contact Telephone Number: 07870212189
Website: http://www.knock2bag.co.uk
Email: comedynight@knock2bag.co.uk