Bruce Dessau
- Journalist and reviewer
Press clippings Page 233
Opinion: Comedy Careers Advice From Charmian Hughes
The precocious risk taker and experimenter essential to becoming a comedian was present in me even as a child - like the time we were in the posh hotel restaurant on a family holiday in Ireland and the pudding menu offered apple tart, fruit crumble, ice creams Various, I ordered the Various.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 19th May 2016Opinion: what is stand-up?
What is stand-up comedy? I thought I knew, but I'm starting to wonder.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 19th May 2016Review: Going Forward, BBC4
There are only three episodes in this run, which is a shame. Brand has become one of the highest profile comedians in the country in recent years and she is doing something here that is both relevant and funny. If Ken Loach made sitcoms they might be something like Going Forward.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 19th May 2016David Baddiel, comedy review
This "massively disrespectful" celebration of their lives is a brilliant cocktail of smutty revelations, smart insights and hilarious nitpicking about grammar, says Bruce Dessau.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 18th May 2016Rarely Asked Questions: George Egg
Comedians are always complaining about their unhealthy diets when on the road. Not George Egg though. Over the years Egg has developed a way of using hotel room accessories to conjure up healthy and, most importantly, tasty meals. You can do wonders with an iron, you can improvise with a kettle and you'd be amazed at what the appropriately-named Egg can do with...well, if I told you it would spoilt the surprise. In Anarchist Cook he tells jokes and simultaneously puts together a three-course meal. Play your cards right and sit at the front you might even get a free taste.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 18th May 2016For Little Alan, comedy review
Last night's tribute to Matt Bradstock-Smith beautifully evoked the childlike surrealism of his days playing Harry Hill's son Little Alan, in the Nineties.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 17th May 2016Live Review: Alex Edelman, Soho Theatre, London
You've got to have an angle when you do a full length Edinburgh Fringe show. Well, it's maybe not compulsory but when putting together a string of stories it can help to stitch the narrative together and excite the judges. Alex Edelman's 2015 show, which has finally transferred to London, has an angle but the young Bostonian is so skilful this would be a hugely enjoyable set even without one.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 15th May 2016Why do comedians make such good actors?
It is both a hard question to answer and an easy one. I think the best comedians are natural performers which would be suited for taking on a script. But they can also be uncontrollable show-offs, which might not go down too well with a hard taskmaster. By all accounts Ken Loach loved Dave Johns from day one.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 15th May 2016Preview: Upstart Crow, episode 2
It's great to report that the first episode of Upstart Crow was not a fluke. Writer Ben Elton repeats the trick again in the second episode. In fact if there is a problem here it isn't so much that this week's episode is like Blackadder, it's more a case that it is too much like last week's episode.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 13th May 2016Preview: Mum, BBC2
One of BBC3's epic fails was axing the relationship sitcom Him & Her. Now at least BBC2 has gone some way towards making amends by commissioning writer Stefan Golaszewski to pen a new comedy, Mum. It's in the same chatty, conversational vein but much more mature. Imagine Him & Her 30 years on with 'Him' dead and this could be the result.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 13th May 2016