Bruce Dessau
Josie Long was one of my favourite comedians even before she co-founded Arts Emergency to help students study arts degrees. I don't always agree with her but I admire the way that she throws herself headlong into everything she does, whether it is her pursuit of social justice or her hobby of outdoor swimming.
Update 1/7/13. Bill Bailey has just announced a further London date, at Wembley Arena on November 29. Tickets go on sale at 9am on July 5 here. Or via telephone on 0844 815 0815. Pre Sale from 9am on July 3. Full tour details here.
If you want to get an idea of the sheer sweat, graft and toil that goes into preparing an Edinburgh Fringe show you should follow Richard Herring's daily Warming Up blog at the moment. As well as talking wittily about life in general he entertainingly charts the struggle to get to his preview gigs, the difficult audiences and, most importantly, he also dissects his set as it evolves.
Good news for Mighty Boosh fans – or at least Mighty Boosh fans who can afford transatlantic flights. The duo will be reuniting to appear at the Festival Supreme, a one-day comedy festival organised by Jack Black and Kyle Glass, aka Tenacious D. Also appearing are Sarah Silverman, Zach Galifianikis, Eric Idle, Adam Sandler, Demetri Martin, Hannibal Buress, Reggie Watts and lots more.
Bloody Americans, coming over here and entertaining our comedy fans… Last week Judah Friedlander made his London debut and was a bit of a disappointment. There should be no such problems with Aziz Ansari, who comes to the Hammersmith Apollo this Saturday.
Update - Re below, Kay's book is out now and he plays the Soho Theatre on 18 & 19 Oct. Details here.
Michael Parkinson eat your heart out. Roll over Graham Norton and tell Alan Carr the news. Richard Herring's "Stephen Fry in suicide attempt" scoop has shown that the biggest stories are not always stage managed and released to the media as part of a strategy worked out with military precision.
There are no bad comedy gigs, just bad comedy audiences. I'm not sure if that's what Judah Friedlander said after his opening night at the Soho Theatre on Tuesday, but maybe the thought did occur to him after he did an hour of his finest "World Champion" boasts and one-liners but struggled to get the crowd to chip in. There were certainly laughs, but there were also moments when you could almost see the tumbleweed blowing across the room as Friedlander asked "Any more questions?" for the umpteenth time.
Judah Friedlander is best known to TV viewers as Frank Rossitano in 30 Rock, but like most great sitcom actors he is also a superb stand-up. He makes his belated UK debut at the Soho Theatre this week. It's a short run so get down there quickly.
Smart must mean something different in Australia. When I heard that Wil Anderson was a smart Australian comedian I was expecting someone with attitude, someone who had some new comedic insights into our place on the planet. Not someone who did jokes about the difference between cats and dogs. Just because you introduce a canine v feline routine by saying that you know it is well-trodden ground doesn't make you a Stewart Lee-style meta-comedian.
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