BCG Daily Friday 25th July 2014

An audience with Mitchell or Fry? I'd rather have gags

Increasingly, big-name comedians are swapping the usual stand-up format for something that seems more intimate, honest and a bit of a get-out.

Frankie Boyle set for Edinburgh TV festival

Outspoken Scottish comic Frankie Boyle is to get top billing at this year's Edinburgh International Television Festival despite his career being blighted by a string of high-profile controversies.

McQueen's exclusive video for Comedy Blogedy

Whilst touring with Radiohead one fateful night in Miami, McQueen Adams impressed the band with an impersonation so fresh an idea was born.

Zoe Lyons: Champion mustard cutter

Long-term ThreeWeeks favourite Zoe Lyons is back at the Fringe this year with a brand new show called Mustard Cutter, an hour of quality stand-up promising to cover everything "from pan pipes to the price of lobster". Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Gilded Balloon castle, you'll find her appearing in 'Outings', a new show inspired by the YouTube phenomenon that was Tom Daley's 'coming out' statement last year, exploring the real-life coming out stories of various other gay men and women.

Harry Hill settles £1m legal fight with his old agent

Harry Hill and his former agent have finally settled a year-long High Court battle.

Inbetweeners 2 is the end of the road says Simon Bird

Love the Inbetweeners? Then the upcoming movie will be your last chance to see the gang in action.

Radio Times review

"Try and find your mother some heroin." That's Martin's plea to his bambinos as Jackie starts to fray at the edges. It's the day of Grandma's wedding and nobody is looking forward to it, least of all Jackie, who still hopes her mum might come to her senses.

Given the levels of clattering farce the Goodman household can attain on a regular Friday, you'd think a wedding would cause things to go nuclear, but instead writer Robert Popper keeps things (relatively) relaxed and brings out the warmth that underlies the family madness. Even so, Martin's attempts to give his impression of a pimp are not to be missed.

Interview with Ellie White

Q&A with character comic Ellie White.

Interview with Lead Pencil

A Q&A with all-woman sketch group Lead Pencil.

Interview with The Awkward Silence

A Q&A with the sketch group the Awkward Silence.

Interview with Rachel Fairburn

A Q&A with stand-up Rachel Fairburn.

Edinburgh Fringe preview: David Trent

Multi-media comedy had been done before, but when David Trent appeared on the scene a couple of years ago he turned heads with his angry combination of clips and quips.

This week's new live comedy

Previews of Felicity Ward, Anthony Jeselnik and Danielle Ward.

Top ten formats

The last of our Edinburgh Fringe previews.

The newish comic most likely to become successful?

You can never tell who is going to succeed. Some extremely talented performers crash and burn. Some with minimal talent strike it lucky. (See vast swathes of BBC Three.) So who do I guess is the current reasonably-new comedian most likely to succeed...? Archie Maddocks.

Camilla Cleese: 'People are looking to hate me'

Comedian Camilla Cleese is ready to emerge from the shadow of her Python father with a new show at Edinburgh.

Big Fat Fringe Bribe blog: McNeil & Pamphilon Go 8-Bit!

A handheld gaming console buys the comedy duo some valuable exposure.

Edinburgh Fringe 2014 interview: Foils, Arms and Hog

'We've got a sketch about an Irish intervention to a son that -doesn't- drink'

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014: comedian Jason Cook

'I'm looking at how all the wonderful things happening to me also have a negative effect'

Edinburgh Fringe 2014 interview: Stephen K. Amos

'I can ask the audience the awkward, challenging questions. Ultimately, though, they've got to laugh'

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 interview: Tom Allen

'It's about being happy with yourself. And not holding back. And wearing bigger hats'

Edinburgh festival Fringe 2014: Alan Davies

The comedian and QI regular's second comeback show is a reflection on childhood.

Fringe 2014: 5 hotly-tipped sketch comedy debuts

Featuring Aunty Donna, Gein's Family Giftshop, Massive Dad and zazU.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014: 5 shows about death

Featuring Jim Davidson's Funeral, Tony Law, Lost Voice Guy and Robin & Partridge.

Simon Munnery gives us his guide to the capital

Simon Munnery's guide to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Fringe 2014 interview: Katherine Rya

'In the UK, you actually have a choice to put your tits away. And, well, maybe you should'

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 interview: Ivo Graham

The Old Etonian tackles his public schooling and having 'a genuine relationship with issues'

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 interview: Miles Allen

'I'm glad I get to be a part of that experience: you can come up and say "bitch" at me all you want'

Opinions: Fringe comics - please actually write a show

Being funny is more about sheer hard work than self-indulgence.

Unsung hero: The Stand's Kenny O'Brien

This week, The Stand's Kenny O'Brien: 'My wife's birthday is in August, apparently'.

Five questions for Sarah Campbell

Sarah Campbell returns to Edinburgh in August with her new show, Don't Worry Guys It's Sarah Campbell. She talks to Giggle Beats about the show, her role on ITV2's new show, Bad Bridesmaid, and more.

Five questions for Robin and Partridge

High-energy improv duo Robin And Partridge bring their new show to Edinburgh for a month-long run at the Pleasance. The duo talk to Giggle Beats about their career, their new show's ominous title, working with Jarvis Cocker and more.

Edinburgh Fringe 2014 interview: Nish Kumar

The brilliant Nish Kumar returns to the Edinburgh Fringe after his last two show brought him critical acclaim and two sell out Soho Theatre runs.

Edinburgh picks: Classy Guardian-friendly thinkpieces

Some shows that quite a bit of thinking have gone into...

Edinburgh Picks 2014: The bringers of buzz

The most talked-about acts going into August...

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy 2 preview

There is a fresh new energy within the cast, but still has the same feelings of warmth and familiarity of previous episodes.

Edinburgh Fringe survival guide

No point in denying it, it's upon us: the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with all the irresistible draw of its 3,000-plus shows.

An audience with...

Every summer, a bunch of celebrities will decide that they need to do a run at the Fringe. The reasons are familiar enough - they're going through a costly divorce, or a cushy sinecure has been taken away from them, and now they need a few bob to make it through to retirement.

The Fest directory: Ian Smith

Comedian Ian Smith lists some of his favourite Edinburgh haunts.

Stuart Goldsmith: What I've learned

Stuart Goldsmith's The Comedian's Comedian Podcast is required listening for anyone who's serious about comedy. Here your host tells how spending more than 80 episodes getting under the skin of stand-up's best and brightest has informed his own material.

A Slight Ache: achingly hip

Funny men Thom Tuck and Simon Munnery return to the Fringe with a fresh take on a psychological Pinter tragicomedy.

Kevin Day: a new day dawns

He's not done a full-length show since 1996. But one of the UK's most prolific comedy writers has been coaxed back into live performance. And despite accolades and experience, he's terrified.

John Robins: "We're not rockstars, we're dweebs"

Content, successful, cool - a standup should be none of these things, says John Robins. Here he casts a matter-of-fact eye on comedy, happiness and love.

Toby: A lighter shade of dark

They might be sisters, but don't expect familial harmony from Toby. Fest finds a duo pushing boundaries, and pushing each other.

Wizards of Oz

"Traditionally, we're not looked at as innovators at all," says Australian Sam Simmons. But with a rich history of Antipodeans migrating to the Fringe, it seems an increasingly difficult viewpoint to sustain.

Lou Sanders: Calendar Girl

Lou Sanders is a woman on a mission. And no ordinary one, at that.

The Fest directory: Sara Pascoe

Comic Sara Pascoe talks about her favourite Fringe haunts.

Getting to know Pippa Evans

Stepping out from behind her much-lauded character Loretta Maine, Pippa Evans is set to take this year's Fringe... as Pippa Evans.

Target practice

Audience participation needn't mean putting the screws on the crowd. This year, lord of misrule Ben Target experiments with a new approach: being irresistibly nice.

Tim Key: poet without a plan

Since winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award, Tim Key has managed that rare feat of marrying mainstream success with uncompromising innovation. But, as he tells Sam Friedman, there is no grand vision.

The Fest directory: James Campbell

Comedian James Campbell talks about his favourite Fringe locations.

Man on the Edge

Not so much transgressing the boundaries of taste, ethics and rationality as stomping noisily over them in hob-nailed boots, Kim Noble is something of an original.

The Fest directory: Andrew Maxwell

Stand-up Andrew Maxwell talks about his favourite Fringe haunts.

Local heroes

The Fringe brings in acts from around the globe. And also a few from just down the road. Jay Richardson finds the Scottish scene in rude health.

Natasia Demetriou: on the crest of a new wave

Touted as part of a dream team of fresh young talent, off-kilter character comic Natasia Demetriou sets about finding a voice all of her own.

From the harp

Otherworldly comedy singer-songwriter Ursula Burns may seem like she's fallen from the sky. But her art is rooted more firmly in reality than you might think.

I'm a comic. Everything I say on stage is to get laughs

Often dismissed as part of the pre-PC 'old school' of stand-up, Jim Davidson seems an unlikely fit for the Fringe. He tells Tom Hackett of his plans to win over a younger audience and challenge the new mainstream.

Kids in tow: an expert guide

For that moment when you're changing nappies in the Assembly toilets at one in the morning while pestering people to turn up for your life-changing 9am show. Comedian Mark Watson has it covered.

Outside the comfort zone

As a fresh crop of ingenious formats dares comics to show us what they're really made of, Fest meets the people throwing down the gauntlet. There's no filter, no script - and no guessing what could happen.

5 awesome female comedians at this year's Fringe

They're up-and-coming, and they're doing it fast.