Bob Mortimer

Vic & Bob's Afternoon Delights: a self-indulgent joy

As Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's new sketch show launches online, it's a delight to see them messing about together again.

Vic & Bob's Afternoon Delights: is the future online?

As Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's new sketch series launches online, The Telegraph reports on a revolution that could spell the end of traditional TV...

Vic and Bob raise a cheer with Afternoon Delights

Following on from its partnership with Steve Coogan, which produced some acclaimed internet shorts featuring Alan Partridge, corporate comedy sponsor Foster's is about to unleash Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's Afternoon Delights on the web.

Video: Simon Day talks about getting his big break

Simon Day say his fortunes changed when he won a stand-up comedy competition and was spotted by comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

Jesting About: The Results Are In

Speaking to BBC Newcastle's Alfie and Charlie at Breakfast this morning, North East comedian Bob Mortimer revealed the results of a region-wide search to find new comedy talent.

Shooting Stars snub for "dim" Louis Walsh

Wacky quiz show Shooting Stars will return for a new series - but hosts Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer have barred Louis Walsh from reappearing for being "dim".

And welcome, for example, to a special Christmas Shooting Stars (BBC2). No, I don't know what that "for example" is doing there either, but that's what Bob Mortimer says - and it's funny. Shooting Stars is about the baffling, the surreal, the unexpected and the unbelievably silly. This festive episode begins with a hanging (of a mouse) and ends with a race (between Ricky Tomlinson and Ronnie Wood, on mobility scooters). In between is half an hour of the usual lunacy.

Bob is impaled, up the arse, on the end of of Vic's electric guitar; Walter Hottle Bottle jumps in slow motion; Ulrikakaka downs a pint of Advocaat in one, then burps loudly; Jack Dee has a face like an abandoned winkle-picker, or a willy warmer with mouse droppings all over it; Joanna Page is Welsh and pronounces words funny; Thandie Newton is pestered by Bob; Angelous has been hiding in the trees outside Ulrikakaka's bedroom; the Christmas tree catches fire; a stuffed buzzard loses its confidence when a cocktail is thrown in its face; Ricky rides a rocking horse while eating chicken drumsticks.

And there are some fiendishly difficult questions. Like: true or false, muesli is a byproduct of coffin-making? (true). And will bacon stick to Bob's face? (Yes). And what's the latest Ron ever stayed up? (Very).

I'm still not convinced it was a good idea to bring back Shooting Stars. It was a show that fitted so perfectly into the 1990s, like Seinfeld and Britpop. But this Christmas special was a party.

Jest a great way to tune in to TV work

If funniness is burning a hole in your pocket, then it's time to pay up. Sam Wonfor talks to Bob Mortimer about bringing the region's laugh makers out of their shell.

Jesting About launches in the North East

Bob Mortimer, one of the North East's finest home grown comedians, is fronting a region-wide search for the next generation of comedy talent.

Even at its height in the Nineties, Shooting Stars was an acquired taste: some found it gloriously surreal, others thought it annoyingly puerile. Nowadays, though, it feels dated and superfluous. Still there are some enjoyable moments, mainly involving the lugubrious scorekeeper Angelos Epithemiou. Tonight, hosts Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and captains "Ulri-ka-ka-ka" Jonsson and Jack Dee are joined by Strictly dancer Brendan Cole, cultishly incompetent football pundit Chris Kamara, war reporter John Simpson and Tulisa from pop group N-Dubz.