BCG Daily Friday 17th June 2022

TikTok becomes first virtual stage partner of the Edinburgh Fringe

TikTok and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society have announced an exclusive new partnership that will see the entertainment platform become the first Official Virtual Stage to the world's premier performing arts festival.

Brian And Charles review

An isolated man builds a massive, child-like robot to be his best friend in this very British comedy about loneliness and letting go.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande review

Emma Thompson bares body and soul in this touching tale of sexual awakening.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande review

Emma Thompson moved me to tears in a story of sexual reawakening.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande review

A sex comedy that is both liberating and hugely moving.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande review

Emma Thompson''s new film shifts the focus from standard Hollywood sex scenes that focus on young people and only one way of getting intimate.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande review

While you might need the help of somebody else to get to that place, freedom is a decision that ultimately comes from within.

How the Carry On films became the most lucrative comedy franchise in the history of British cinema

As the last film in the franchise, Carry On Columbus, turns 30, Geoffrey Macnab looks back on what made the innuendo-filled, bawdy movies so popular - and whether they would stand up today.

Theatre review: Tony [The Tony Blair Rock Opera], Park Theatre

I had misgivings about how they were going to make Blair into a comic figure given that he is best remembered by many for taking the UK into the Iraq war, but Hill and Brown successfully find the balance between being as stupid as a panto and as seriously poiltical as Brecht or Dario Fo.

Bobby Ball statue to be unveiled

A statue of Bobby Ball is to be unveiled in his Lancashire hometown on August 28, it has been announced.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande review

A chamber piece set in the bedchamber depicts an older woman in search of sexual pleasure.

Sid Abbott: Average family man?

It would not be unfair to describe the confused sitcom dad - bemused by his children and frustrated by his wife - as having become somewhat of a sitcom archetype. Such relationships, to varying extents, have been the foundation of many comedies over the years (perhaps most recently in BBC One's long-running My Family), including Network-issued titles such as Home To Roost and Father, Dear Father; but one sitcom honed in on this vein of comedy magic like no other: Bless This House.

Rowan Atkinson still has us in stitches

For over 40 years - from Bean to Blackadder - we've known his supremely subversive silliness. But Rowan Atkinson rarely allows a peek behind the curtain. The man famous for playing extraordinary fools is happier that way.

Michelle De Swarte, model, stand-up and now star of The Baby

When she was a model, she had to look pretty and not talk. When she was a stand-up, she spoke about being propositioned by Jeffrey Epstein. Now she's an actor, she's sharing the screen with a homicidal infant.

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande review

Emma Thompson dramedy is a refreshing bedroom romp.

Finally an older woman gets to be sexual on screen. Why did it take so long?

In Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, the sight of Emma Thompson, 63, showing her entire naked female body is still more surprising than it should be.

Ed Gamble to host the Kerrang! Awards 2022

Comedian and die-hard metalhead Ed Gamble will be hosting this year's Kerrang! Awards!

Job vacancies at Gilded Balloon

The Gilded Balloon is looking for people to join its vibrant team for the duration of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this August.

Brian & Charles review

Brian And Charles is a soothing, lighthearted, and warm story about friendship and connection that is strengthened by its titular characters.

Rowan Atkinson is at it again in his new Netflix show

"If I'm going to be playing a character without words - and Trevor doesn't say a great deal - you're going to see something redolent of Mr Bean."

I've spotted a major flaw in every conversation about Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

What we're shown suggests it's an oddity for a sexy older woman to exist, and ludicrous to imagine one with a younger man.

Watching shows like Only Fools And Horses causes indigestion, researchers say

Watching a favourite sitcom triggers more than just belly laughs - a study found it also causes indigestion.

Researchers said chortling at TV shows increases the risk of tummy ache by 74 per cent. They think comedy may trigger a nervous reaction which can slow digestion and lead to a build-up of acids.

theSpaceUK Announces Full Programme for Edinburgh Fringe 2022

theSpaceUK announces their full 2022 programme, with over 400 shows on sale at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Edinburgh preview: Classic!

Manchester's Award-winning Hope Mill Theatre is set to makes its Fringe debut with Classic! a new comic play, that races through a multitude of classic novels in 60 minutes.

Edinburgh preview: Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!

Murder obsessed BFFs Kathy and Stella host Hull's least successful true-crime podcast. When their favourite author is killed, they are thrust into a thrilling whodunnit of their own! Can they crack the case (and become global podcast superstars) before the killer strikes again...?

Edinburgh preview: Apocalypse Kernow

Apocalypse Kernow is an Oncomm nominated Cornish zombie-comedy featuring a government unwilling to act until the problem reaches London and evacuees from Cornwall having to pass a Devon Citizenship Test to be accepted there.

Edinburgh preview: Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible is Going to Happen

A permanently single, professionally neurotic stand-up finally meets Mr Right and then does everything wrong.

Edinburgh preview: Looking For Me Friend: The Music Of Victoria Wood

Paulus will share twelve of Victoria's best-loved songs through the decades.

Edinburgh preview: Man With a Guitar Plays Story Songs

Ignored characters in Italian renaissance paintings, pig outlaws and tricky tooth fairy admin are just a few of the topics which singer-songwriter Gecko will be covering this August in Man With a Guitar Plays Story Songs.

Edinburgh preview: Will Tell and the Big Bad Baron

Fringe favourites Theatre Fideri Fidera are back with a hilarious comic reimagining of the tale of Wilhelm Tell.

Edinburgh preview: Trouble on Six

In Trouble On Six, Larry Jay Tish (Bad Cupid) reflects upon how he has been affected by the family disease of addiction, in a family he never should have been born into.

Edinburgh preview: I'm With Stupid

This is the story of how a scrappy kid from the wrong side of the New Jersey tracks came to Los Angeles with nothing but $100 and a dream and wound up working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Edinburgh preview: Briefs: Bite Club

Briefs are back with a bang this Summer, wreaking havoc on the innocent in a UK tour that culminates in a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe this August.

Edinburgh preview: Boorish Trumpson

Boorish Trumpson is your rehearsal-conductor. Just your rehearsal-conductor...just for rehearsal...absolutely no other ambitions. None. Nope.

Edinburgh preview: Irvine Welsh's Porno

Fifteen years after Trainspotting, what has become of Renton, Sickboy, Begbie & Spud?

Edinburgh preview: 2 Mouthed Men

Welcome to the sketch comedy remix!

Alice Brine: Brinestorm interview

I spoke to her to find out more about the show, about how ADHD affects her, and what to expect from her in the future.

Man Or Tree review

It's takes a real filmmaking mind to make a film like Man or Tree.