BCG Daily Friday 11th April 2014

Sue Townsend, author of Adrian Mole books, dies aged 68

Novelist Sue Townsend, best known as the author of the successful Adrian Mole series, has died, a friend of her family has told the BBC.

Stewart Lee: A revolution in stand-up

In a collection of critical essays published in 1929 as a prolegomena to the appearance of Joyce's Finnegans Wake, Our Exagmination round his Factification of Incamination of Work in Progress, Samuel Beckett begins his contribution with the words "With Joyce, form is content." With Stewart Lee, comedy is content: Joyce's novel is a novel about a novel, Lee's comedy comedy about comedy.

Fringe 2014: the 10 best show titles this year

With the bulk of the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe listings released yesterday, we've spent the past 24 hours sifting through the lot. They say a good show title can put bums on seats - and if that's true, these ten comedians are in for a treat this August.

Frank Skinner rediscovers the stand-up bug

The comedian returns to the live stage with Man In A Suit - his first stand-up tour for seven years.

Radio Times review

It's pure pleasure, this. Something so seemingly simple really shouldn't work as well at it does, but boy is it funny. Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan - or the versions they play of themselves - have reached San Fruttuoso in Liguria on their tour of Italy.

They take a beautiful yacht to a restaurant on a pebbled cove where, over lunch, they do impressions. Quite why two men doing silly voices filmed with the production values of an arthouse movie is so funny, Lord knows.

There's Steve doing Saddam Hussein's Frank Spencer impression or Rob doing Roger Moore playing Tony Blair. There's a lovely bit about what the different intonations that newsreaders use mean.

But underneath the comedy back-and-forth there's a poignant undertow about middle-aged friendship and the status games men play. It's cleverly done and not quite like anything else, ever.

Radio Times review

There's a trio of superheroes on the sofa in the form of the stars of The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx (who is unrecognisable as the film's terrifying villain, Electro).

No doubt Graham will be climbing the walls and dangling from the ceiling trying to persuade the loved-up Garfield and Stone to open up about their real-life relationship, which amazingly they managed to keep secret for ages.

Music comes from Paolo Nutini who releases his new album, Caustic Love, on 14 April.

Margaret Thatcher is still the butt of many jokes

Handbagged has opened in London. Moira Buffini's playful drama started out as a half-hour short as part of the Tricycle Theatre's Women, Power and Politics season.

James Corden goes on road trip with Gary Barlow

James Corden and Gary Barlow head out on a UK road trip for a BBC One documentary.

Katie Hopkins breaks silence as recording is postponed

Katie Hopkins has taken to Twitter following the news that her appearance on Celebrity Juice has been postponed due to Peaches Geldof's death.

Stewart Francis announces major 2015 tour

Stand-up star Stewart Francis has announced his biggest UK tour to date. The UK-based Canadian's Pun Gent tour will start on April 16, 2015 at the Epsom Playhouse and finish with three nights at the Bloomsbury Theatre from June 11.

Bill Bailey compares Miliband to plastic bag in a tree

Predicting the results of the general election in 2015, he described Labour leader Ed Miliband, rather unflatteringly, as being "like a plastic bag caught in a tree."

How do you review an act you know you don't like?

So how do you review a show that - not that I ever make up my mind in advance, of course - you have an inkling that you may not totally enjoy. It's not easy.

Ian Hislop: There aren't enough happy women on shows

Ian Hislop has said that a large part of the problem with getting more women on panel shows is that they simply don't want to take part because of the format.

Character Invasion: Radio 4 comedy at its worst

It was Radio 4 comedy at its worst: somehow there was always the whiff of Jeremy Hardy in the background, hooting at his own jokes.

David Threlfall interview

"Audiences already loved Tommy, but when his magic tricks didn't work, they loved him all the more," says Threlfall.

Rev review: Help my unbelief

To complete the cliché bingo full house, Rev and the Guardian Angel are recast as exhausted parents.

Special Measures review

Its characters may carry a whiff of panto, but this fierce comedy about a failing Liverpool primary school offers a serious insight into the constraints placed on teachers.

Chris O'Dowd interview

Chris O'Dowd has a thriving Hollywood career and a starring role on Broadway. Why was he wary of returning to Ireland - and the Catholic church - for his new film, Calvary?

What The Trip To Italy tells us about male friendship

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's gently competitive riffs and references highlight the changing composition of modern male relationships.

On location: 'The Trip to Italy'

In Camogli, Brydon and Coogan stayed at the seafront Cenobio dei Dogi, which has elegant bedrooms and access to a private beach (doubles from €190).

Blessed are the sausage-makers

Creativity is like a sausage machine. Half-formed ideas go in at one end and come out in a presentable, digestible form at the other.