BCG Daily Friday 28th May 2021

Breeders, season two review

An angry parenting comedy somewhere between amusing and bemusing.

Goons at 70: anarchic rowdy never-bettered radio comedy

After 70 years, the zany antics of the Goons still hold up to modern ears. What makes their bizarre comedy so enticing, even today?

LCA & NextUp raise over £77,000 to support industry

So far the #SaveLiveComedy fund has raised over £ 77,000. As it goes into its final push before closing on the 4th June, the fund has set a new stretch target of £100,000 - enough to provide 200 grants across the industry.

I talk to Charlotte Ritchie and Mae Martin

"Because they're not always great for each other, I wasn't anticipating how much people would fall in love with that couple and be rooting for them."

Friday Night Dinner: the Best Episodes

As Robert Popper's utterly lovable Friday Night Dinner celebrates its 10th birthday, we celebrate the Channel 4 sitcom's very best episodes. Spoilers.

Brighton Fringe review: The Preacher, by Anthony Noack

It sounds like the sort of thing a trendy RE teacher would come up with. 'You like stand-up? Well you know who else was a bit like a stand-up comedian? Jesus...' In The Preacher, which is being presented as part of the Brighton Fringe, Anthony Noack performs the Book of Ecclesiastes as if it were a comedy gig.

Jessie Cave: Sunrise - Soho Theatre On Demand review

I hope this isn't a sign of how slowly we're opening up. Earlier this month, Simon Bird released a stand-up special recorded in an empty theatre, yesterday Jessie Cave released hers, filmed in front of an audience of one: her sister, Bebe.

Natalie Haynes: the books that made me

All I could understand in Finnegans Wake were the smutty Latin bits.

Blithe Spirit starring Jennifer Saunders returns

Jennifer Saunders will star in the West End return of Noël Coward's classic comedy Blithe Spirit, which comes to London in September.

Directed by Richard Eyre, the production was first seen at Theatre Royal Bath as part of its 2019 summer season, before a UK tour and short run of just 12 performances at the West End's Duke of York's Theatre before the country's first lockdown.

It will now return to the West End for eight weeks from 16th September at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Comedy mustn't be censored by corporate bores

What unites Jim Davidson and left-wing comic Sophie Duker? They're both being censored by money men - and that should worry us all.

Debunking Borat is very nice in scary times

Debunking Borat, the second half of Amazon's supplemental content for Borat 2, is a fascinating snapshot of current craziness.

Four episodes into Souvenir Programme Series 9

Well, since you ask me for some kind of diagram drawing all the events of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, Series 9 so far... over four episodes we now have had a hundred years of family history.

FND fans call for spin-off about neighbour Jim

Friday Night Dinner fans were left calling for a spin-off show after tuning into the 10 year anniversary of the hit Channel 4 sitcom and being reminded of one particular character - Jim.

Review: Friday Night Dinner, Breeders

"Two brothers come home on Friday night, things happen" was the simple premise for a cult sitcom. Admittedly those things included the father of the house running round shirtless shouting "S**t on it!" while trying to hide a dead fox but come on, we've all done that, haven't we?

Paddington 2 no longer perfect on Rotten Tomatoes

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless critic. While no one will compare the 2017 comedy Paddington 2 to Shakespeare's King Lear, the film recently suffered its own version of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, as its Rotten Tomatoes rating was dinged by a lone negative critic crying in the wilderness.

Friday Night Dinner fans in tears over Paul Ritter

Fans of Friday Night Dinner have broken down in tears watching tonight's throwback show as the stars paid tribute to Paul Ritter.

Actor Paul, who played family patriarch Martin in the Channel 4 sitcom, tragically passed away from a brain tumour at the age of 54 on 6th April.