News snippets
Here are some British comedy news stories from the last week. We've somewhat pointlessly grouped into pairs (it seemed a clever idea at the time)...
Fry and Laurie News
Stephen Fry 'loathes and despises' reality shows. The QI host accused them of 'picking over the remains of life'. He went on to tell The Stage newspaper: 'Dancing On Ice is simply torture to me, I would rather skewer my own eyeballs out of their sockets with a blunt bodkin than I would watch that. I thrive on creativity, energy and excitement.' Fry is currently writing a remake The Dam Busters film which will be produced by Peter Jackson (the Lord of the Rings director).
Hugh Laurie has been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen for services to acting.
Python News
Eric Idle stormed out of the premiere of Shrek 3 after it became apparent that the film had copied the Monty Python and the Holy Grail gag in which coconut shells are used to imitate the sound of horses' hooves. Idle is now threatening to sue Dreamworks Studios, even though he voices the character of Merlin in the new animated blockbuster. The Python later told a Canadian radio show: "I was shocked. It's been stolen patently. We'll be able to sue their ass. If you steal peoples jokes, I don't think that's homage, I think that's theft."
The city of Palmerston North in New Zealand have named their rubbish dump after John Cleese. It's in retaliation for the Python's comment, made during his 2005, that their city was 'one of the most boring places on earth'. A homemade sign saying 'Mount Cleese' now greets visitors to the tip.
Prop Sales
A prop cactus used in Monty Python's famous Scott Of The Antarctic sketch is expected to fetch between £500 and £800 when it goes under the hammer as Bonhams Auctions in London on June 20th. The cactus played a 'pivotal role' in the famous 1970 sketch 'by ripping off Carol Cleveland's bra'.
Meanwhile a prop from 'Allo 'Allo recently sold at auction for more than £4000. The Fallen Madonna With The Big Boobies by Van Clomp, a key prop in the wartime based sitcom, was bought by Taxi firm boss Colin Jennings. He said: "'Allo 'Allo always had me in stitches and the chance to own a memento was too big a temptation to resist."
New Books
Sacha Baron Cohen is writing a travel guidebook in character as Borat. The book is to be called Borat: Touristic Guidings To Minor Nation of U.S. and A. and Borat: Touristic Guidings To Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
David Baddiel has signed a five-book deal with publishers Fourth Estate. The deal includes a novel, two books for kids and an autobiography. The comic is taking a somewhat different approach to writing his autobiography by basing it on all the bad reviews he's ever had. He wrote in The Times that My Life in Bad Review will be 'kind of like Fever Pitch, but instead of Arsenal, it's people slagging me off. Fever Bitch, if you like."