Alex Salmond
- Comedian
Press clippings Page 2
Salmond's Edinburgh Fringe show sells out
Alex Salmond's two-week stint at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has completely sold out.
BBC, 31st July 2017Stars from comedy's punk past return to Fringe
They were at the vanguard of political comedy. Now Alexei Sayle, Craig Ferguson and Sue Perkins are heading back to the festival, as it celebrates its 70th birthday.
Vanessa Thorpe, The Guardian, 23rd July 2017Why Fringe standup is perfect summer job for a jaded MP
Canvassing for support, getting heckled, hanging out in bars - it's all great practice for politicians. And Alex Salmond is leading the way.
Joanna Griffin and Lola Stephenson, The Guardian, 19th July 2017Fringe 2017: Top picks and tips
With its 3,398 shows across 300 venues, we guide you through the world's largest arts festival.
Sarah Bradbury, The Independent, 18th July 2017Alex Salmond Unleashed at the Edinburgh Fringe
As the former first minister tucks into a large glass of pinot grigio, it dawns on me that this is not Alex Salmond, this is Alex Salmond Unleashed. Which, funnily enough, is the name of his upcoming show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Laura Pullman, The Times, 16th July 2017Alex Salmond returns to spotlight with Fringe show
Former First Minister Alex Salmond is bouncing back after losing his seat at the Westminster election by presenting his own show on the Edinburgh Fringe. From August 13 to 27, at 1.45pm each day, the former SNP leader will present Alex Salmond Unleashed, at the Ballroom in the Assembly Rooms in George Street.
Martin Hannan, The National (Scotland), 11th July 2017Alex Salmond 'highest paid politician' on HIGNFY
A payment of £1,800 Mr Salmond listed in his register of MPs interests as his fee for appearing on the show last month was £300 higher than that recorded by the five other senior UK politicians who featured in the same series.
Andrew Whitaker, The Scotsman, 15th January 2016Radio Times review
Heaven knows, there's not much to laugh about in the news, which almost perversely means we need more than ever the pungent satire of Have I Got News for You. If we can't make fun of our fears, then we're lost.
Scotland's former First Minister Alex Salmond, now MP for Gordon at Westminster, is one of the guests. He has appeared on the show before, though some years ago, back when everyone, including him, had more hair.
Also trying to help us to forget our troubles is Sara Pascoe, a cheerful stand-up who's clever enough and observant enough not simply to be the female comedian who fills the "we need a woman" chair.
Hosting is everyone's favourite, the twinkly and urbane Alexander Armstrong. As MC of Pointless, he's king of the daytime quiz show, and also recently topped the classical music charts with his first album, A Year of Songs. Let's hope he gives us a tune.
Alison Graham, Radio Times, 24th November 2015Who says satire is dead? After this, I would imagine just about everybody.
According to Jon Culshaw, one of the prime movers in ITV's new puppet-CGI farrago Newzoids
Where did it all go wrong? Of course, Spitting Image profited hugely from being the product of the Thatcher era, when the political battle lines were starkly drawn and the whiff of anarchy and grapeshot was in the air. Now we've entered an insipid (yet disturbing) era in which politicians posture, bluster and say anything that might nudge the all-powerful opinion polls half a percentage point in their direction. Conviction is dead, and everybody has fired off their personal opinions all over Twitter before the Newzoid scriptwriters have managed to pull the caps off their biros. And besides, doesn't the EU make all the big decisions for us anyway?
Take out the ads and Newzoids only last about 23 minutes, but even so it could hardly drag itself to the finishing tape. The team had laboured hard to draw up a checklist of likely targets, but then couldn't think of anything satirical to say about them. Ed Miliband appeared as a gormless geek with Ant and Dec (or perhaps it was vice versa). A barely-recognisable David Cameron was carried around like Nero in a sedan chair, talking like Ken Clarke impersonating the Duke of Kent. And why have him saying "get me to a hospital, a private one obvs" when his use of the NHS is well documented?
There was a sketch called "Mrs Crown's Boys", in which the Queen and Prince Philip kept saying "feck", and we had a pantomimic Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond singing "sod the English". It looked as if there might be a daring moment coming up when we saw a Muslim couple worrying about their son joining Isis, but it stopped before anything controversial happened. Nigel Farage was depicted as a stand-up comic with a fag and a pint of beer. Then Gary Barlow sang a song about not paying tax. It was like Anti-Pointless, where you had to find the laziest, most obvious answers that everyone else had already thought of.
Jon Culshaw interview
Nearly 20 years after spoofing John Major on Spitting Image, impressionist Jon Culshaw pokes fun at new generation of stars including Alex Salmond.
Rick Fulton, Daily Record, 11th April 2015