Ben Williams (I)
- Journalist, promoter and producer
Press clippings
How podcasts took over the world in 20 years
What was the first podcast you listened to? For a lot of people - myself included - the answer will be The Ricky Gervais Show.
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian, 3rd June 2023Comedians' all-time favourite stand-up routines
Top comics pick the routines that make them howl with laughter, from Eddie Murphy on Rocky to Eddie Izzard on penknives and Michelle Wolf on women's worst enemies.
Ben Williams, The Guardian, 6th April 2020John Robins interview
John Robins on shame, his new stand-up show and his love of Freddie Mercury.
Ben Williams, The Sunday Post, 11th October 2019Meet Ari Eldjárn, Iceland's hottest comic
The former flight attendant started standup as a dare - now he's a sellout star. But how will his Nordic innuendos work in England?
Ben Williams, The Guardian, 30th September 2019Fringe 2019: 12 best comedy shows
Here for the lols? From buzzy newcomers to stand-up giants, these are the best comedy shows at Edinburgh Fringe 2019.
Ben Williams, Time Out, 1st August 2019The comics turning tragedy into laughs
A former alcoholic, a cancer survivor and a man who lost all his money in a Bitcoin crash are among the comics coming back from the brink at the Edinburgh fringe.
Ben Williams, The Guardian, 1st August 2018Ross Noble plans to keep on working, even when he is 92
The Cramlington-born comic, presenter and actor is heading to Newcastle this autumn on his latest tour.
Ben Williams, Newcastle Chronicle, 20th July 2018Stand-ups on Maxine Peake's Funny Cow
'It made me proud of everything I've been through'. Rhona Cameron, Rachel Fairburn and Shappi Khorsandi give their verdict on the film in which Peake plays an aspiring comic in a man's world.
Ben Williams, The Guardian, 15th May 2018Is Facebook killing online comedy?
Earlier this year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced major changes to the social network's algorithm. "You'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands and media," he wrote in, predictably, a Facebook status. "The public content you see ... should encourage meaningful interactions between people."
Less than two weeks later, longstanding comedy video website Funny or Die made another round of redundancies, after laying off roughly 30% of its staff in 2016. The website's CEO, Mike Farah, vented his frustration, tweeting: "There is simply no money in making comedy online any more. Facebook has completely destroyed independent digital comedy."
Ben Williams, The Guardian, 8th March 2018Standups on their home town's humour
Does a regional accent give you a headstart in standup? Are some places funnier than others? Jayde Adams, Tez Ilyas and Ardal O'Hanlon explore laughter and locality.
Ben Williams, The Guardian, 5th February 2018