The only good mime is a dead mime apart from this mime performed by Johann Lipowitz and Beth off Neighbours, which makes me giggle and also, for some reason, get a bit misty of eye every time I see it. A happy mist, mind you. It’s just so wilfully, pointlessly daft and joyful. Pop the fog lights on and enjoy.
comedy
Craig Ferguson
I don’t watch much in the way of US chat shows since Larry Sanders said “you may now flip”, but I find the sounds and images contained in the above video to be sticky like glue. It’s silly and joyful and so damned catchy, visually and musically. I can’t get it out of my head! So, as a problem shared is a problem halved, here is it for you. Squeal with delight as it lodges in your brain like an incurable comedy parasite.
I used to watch Craig Ferguson’s TV series, The Ferguson Theory, on BBC2 many years ago. I remember nothing about it, other than that he wore leather trousers, and that I enjoyed it (the show, not him wearing leather trousers. Although…). Who woulda guessed the act formerly known as “Bing Hitler” would end up hosting his own talk show on American telly?
I like him, and I’ve watched a fair few of his opening monologues on YouTube. It’s this one that I like the most, in which he challenges the audience’s reactions to the then-current “Britney goes bonkers” stories, and he talks candidly about his own battle with addiction. I’ve watched it a lot, and it never fails to move me.
Comedy should be about attacking the powerful… it shouldn’t be about attacking the vulnerable.
I agree. Why? It’s nobody’s business but the turks! Oh, God dammit!
The Rat Control The Cook plus Sausages
New from Adam Buxton. Mesmerisinginging!
Bonus! Buxton sings about my favourite breakfast ciabatta filling:
If I Didn’t Have You
I met Tim Minchin once, at a party in Edinburgh. He was very nice, especially considering my drunken opening gambit was “I usually hate comedy songs, but…”
Anyway, I usually hate comedy songs, but Minchin’s stuff is funny and clever and thoughtful and musically ambitious and funny, and seems to come from a good place. As ever, there’s more to find on YouTube.
I saw him play If I Didn’t Have You live last year. And I loved it, cos at its heart… it’s true. Lasting love is about choice, not necessity. About knowing that you and this person complement and delight each other in this way, and it’s wonderful and it’s all you want. Other possible connections are always available, but you simply don’t want to know about them.
Isn’t that love? Or at least a big part of it? I think so, and it’s all the sweeter for it.
Hehe, that’s a lot of waffle about what is, after all, just a funny song, innit?
Tucker’s Law
I might have to get one of those teatowels, although I suspect I may be one of the c-bombs in question.
Ths clip is an out-take, of course, from the simply excellent The Thick of It, whch I’ve just discovered is available in its entirety on YouTube.
It really is one of the best British comedy series of the century so far: witty, smart and profane, with suberb performances across the board.
I wonder, if Chris Langham had been able to walk backwards while appearing to walk forwards, whether the general public might have found it easier to forgive him.
Recorded for Training Purposes
Submissions are open for series 4 of BBC Radio 4’s Recorded for Training Purposes, a sketch show based around the loose theme of “communication”.
You can find the brief on the Writer’s Room website.
Deadline is Friday 2nd October 2009. As ever, it’s worth a punt, particularly as they’ve come up with 6 communication-related themes to play with:
Power
Idiots
Obsolescence
Instinct
Abundance
Lies
which may or may not help.
Mitch Hedberg
He writes the best jokes and delivers them with southern-fried charm.
Actually, that should be “wrote” and “delivered” as he sadly died a few years ago, but man, I think the world is a better place for having had him on it, however briefly.
And if you like these, off to YouTube with you. There’s much more Mitch out there!
Radio Blah Blah
I had a mocha by the sea in the rain this afternoon. It’s the only way to drink coffee! Well, it is if you’re by the sea in the rain. Coffee and the sea are 2 of the 5 or so things I can’t live without. I know, theoretically nobody could live without the sea, but it’s a proximity thing for me. Love a rough stormy ocean. Add coffee, we’re close to happy. Don’t mix em too literally: nobody wants a storm in a coffee cup. Zing!
Anyway. What’s my point? Oh yeah, I’m on Bob Fischer, BBC Tees, this Wednesday from 8. Expect blather!
Home
Well, I’m back from Edinburgh. My goodness, what a week! I had such a lovely time. Did about 14 gigs, met loads of great people from all over the world, danced til daft o’clock with half of ’em, failed to win* my So You Think You’re Funny heat, and I ate a haggis.
Haggis is quite tasty! For a bit.
My stand-up improved immeasurably while I was there – but I still have so much to learn, and so many more jokes to write. I guess it’s time to start thinking about either stepping up the ambition, working harder, travelling round to do as many gigs as I can, or, alternatively, maybe giving it up entirely.
Or perhaps there’s a grey area in the middle somewhere. I’ve always been happy to plod on at my own pace but I can’t escape the fact that time’s ticking on. How long do you chase a dream, Harris? Particularly when your default speed of pursuit is “slow saunter”. Dreams move fast, man. You think you’ve grabbed one, and, whoosh! It’s off and running over the next hill.
Some dreams are worth chasing, some are not. The trick is working out which is which. That dream I had last night about the car with a hot dog oven in the glove box? Let it go. The dream about one day flying over the rainbow to Emerald City, the mystical realm of magic and music and stripey socks – hell, I’ll follow the Yellow Brick Road for that one. The comedy? We’ll see.
If I only had a brain.
In other news, Moon Shot UK was a runner up in Propeller TV’s Comedy Fest competition, judged by David Nobbs and Toby Foster amongst others, so that’s nice. Comedyfest will air on Propeller TV, Sky Channel 195, on Monday 14th September at 10pm.
*or, to put it more positively, succeeded in losing
Newsjack – showcase for new comedy writing
Newsjack is BBC Radio 7’s new topical sketch show, which seeks to comically scrutinise the news, views and issues of the day.
And they have an open submissions policy.
What they’re after:
Regular Features – Part One
We will include stand-alone sketches but are also looking to establish some recurring features, which you can write for:
Your Voice
These Vox Pops (in which we pretend to ask the great British public what they think) are a great opportunity for one-liners or quick jokes.
In the pilot we chose to theme them around MP’s Expenses. In the series we have decided they can be about any prominent news issue. These vox pops will be heard throughout the show.From the Archive
Every week we delve through the archives and find out how a fictional show from the past covered topical events of their day.FAQ’s
Miles answers listeners’ letters and emails. These could be topical or just silly, long or short.Regular Features – Part Two
Celebrity Diary
Try writing a “sneak peak” into the inner thoughts of someone who’s been in the news recently.A nice opportunity for our cast to do an impressions. e.g. Michelle Obama or Peter Andre’s diary, Joanna Lumley’s blog.
Miles Undercover
Miles does an undercover investigation related to a specific news story, a la Donal MacIntyreNewsbullet
Newsjack does its own parody version of “youthy” fast-paced, bite sized news such as Newsbeat and 60 second news. Hosted by 1 male and 1 female “youthy” presenters.Corrections
Another good opportunity for one-liners. At the end of the show these ‘corrections’ pretend to address any mistakes we made in last week’s show.But don’t let us be prescriptive: you may have characters that you would like to create, a funny movie reviewer or mad royal correspondent, for example.
We would be very happy to include any amusing characters or features that you come up with. And of course, something you come up with could become a regular item in the show.
The submission deadline each week is Monday midday – we will not look at sketches that arrive any later.
The submission deadline for the Vox Pops is later. It allows us to be more topical with those. Please submit these by Tuesday 5PM – we will not look at vox pops that arrive any later.
Ramshackle Charm 