Bruce Dessau
- Journalist and reviewer
Press clippings Page 234
Live review: Amused Moose Laugh Off Final 2016
The Amused Moose Laugh Off Final has a pretty good track record at discovering future stars. Previous winners include Sarah Millican and Jack Whitehall. Everyone has their say in the vote - from audience members to industry representatives. The balcony at the Hippodrome was crammed with agents, journalists and movers and shakers. Interestingly we weren't asked to pick the best act, we were asked to pick the one we thought would be a star. A subtle difference to me, but let's leave that aside for now. Or maybe not.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 12th May 2016Great Yorkshire Fringe returns in July
Comedians already confirmed include Henning Wehn, Tony Law and Simon Munnery. Richard Herring will pick his favourite routines from his 12 previous shows and cram them into 60 minutes. He also brings his award-winning podcast to York. Star of The Chase on ITV1, Paul Sinha returns to stand up comedy after a 4-year break with Postcards From The Z-List. Other big hitters include Jerry Sadowitz, Glenn Wool, Tom Stade and Sammy J and Randy.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 12th May 2016Nigel Ng wins Amused Moose Laugh Off final 2016
UK-based Malaysian stand-up Nigel Ng is the winner of this year's Amused Moose Laugh Off Final that took place at the Hippodrome in London.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 11th May 2016Opinion: mainstream v alternative - is the gap closing?
We live in interesting times for comedy. I never thought I'd see Sara Pascoe on The Graham Norton Show. Maybe the gap is closing between what we describe as alternative and what we describe as mainstream. Maybe one of the legacies of Comedy Vehicle is that it did attract comedy fans to more cerebral notions of the nature of comedy. Sadly not enough for BBC2's beancounters.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 11th May 2016C4 Comedy Gala, review
Rattling through a conveyor belt of more than twenty comedians, this marathon event had one-liners flying so thick and fast it started to become exhausting, says Bruce Dessau.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 9th May 2016Book Review: Animal by Sara Pascoe
Pascoe suggests at one point that growing up never really stops. Animal is the kind of book that everyone who is in the middle of growing up should read, so I guess that means all of us. We could all learn something from reading it. And at the same time as making us think it will make us laugh.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 5th May 2016Preview, Cunk On Shakespeare, BBC2
The technique of interviewing experts while knowing less than nothing about the subject is hardly new - Ali G does casts a shadow over her straight-faced encounters - but Cunk (alias comedian Diane Morgan) is so committed to her character it is impossible not to laugh at her antics. In one memorable scene she starts playing with a banana while Simon Russell Beale delivers Hamlet's To Be Or Not To Be soliloquy a few inches away.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 5th May 2016Dane Baptiste, comedy review
In a brisk, wide-ranging show, Dane Baptiste establishes a serious point then peels it back to find the playful laugh within.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 4th May 2016Preview: Upstart Crow
Never mind Leicester winning the league, what odds would you have got on Ben Elton being funny again? But hold the front page: Elton has got his mojo back. Well, everything is relative. After his appalling The Wright Way it looked like the acclaimed comic might never make us laugh again. But he has done it with Upstart Crow, which, let's not mince words, is Blackadder Does The Bard.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 4th May 2016Preview: The Windsors
The Windsors isn't going to win any awards for subtlety and the writers certainly aren't going to win any knighthoods, but if you like seeing royal poshos royally sent up this should put a smile on your face.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 4th May 2016