Comedy Chronicles Page 5
The duo you don't know: Jimmy Jewel and Ben Warriss
Sunday 21st May 2023
Britain's favourite comedy double act before Morecambe & Wise found fame in the 1960s, cousins Jimmy Jewel and Ben Warriss are now largely forgotten - despite having a huge impact on radio and television comedy.
It seemed a good idea at the time #3: Dick Emery's Cookbook
Sunday 7th May 2023
In another edition of the occasional 'It seemed a good idea at the time' series, Comedy Chronicles addresses comics' forays into culinary endeavours, and the remarkably quirky Dick Emery's Cookbook.
The nation's cheerer-upper: In celebration of Eric Sykes
Sunday 23rd April 2023
Ahead of his centenary on 4th May 2023, Comedy Chronicles looks at Eric Sykes, the brilliant writer and performer who dedicated his life to making people laugh.
Brotherhood of British comedy
Sunday 9th April 2023
Graham McCann looks at the formation and membership of show business clubs The Grand Order of Water Rats and Masonic Chelsea Lodge No 3098.
It seemed a good idea at the time #2: When Peter Gabriel met Charlie Drake
Sunday 26th March 2023
Comedian Charlie Drake was the subject of the inaugural Comedy Chronicles, and we return to Charlie Drake Land in this fascinating tale of his one-time encounter with the world of prog rock.
It seemed a good idea at the time #1: Woody Allen versus a boxing kangaroo
Sunday 12th March 2023
In 1966, inside an office at British TV company Rediffusion, a programme meeting reached its climax when some bright spark volunteered the idea: '...Kangaroo Boxing?'.
Utterly Buffery: The short but special comic career of Tony Buffery
Sunday 26th February 2023
A remarkable, acclaimed talent whose flirtations with comedy touched and influenced the likes of The Pythons, The Goodies and Clive James, this is the fascinating tale of neuropsychologist Tony Buffery.
A nation of comedy shopkeepers
Sunday 12th February 2023
Imagine a high street, in some parallel but very-near dimension, where some of the greatest names of British comedy are in fact the proprietors and landlords of each establishment...
One sitcom did 'ave 'em: The strangely short career of Raymond Allen
Sunday 29th January 2023
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em is one of Britain's favourite sitcoms, but for writer Raymond Allen it was almost his only success a comedy writer. Normally sitcoms flop and writers flourish - so why the near-opposite here?
Tempus fugit: When time means something for a sitcom
Sunday 1st January 2023
As 2022 draws to a close and 2023 embraces us like a warming hug, it's natural to consider the passage of time: something that traditional situation comedies have a curious relationship with.