Bruce Dessau
- Journalist and reviewer
Press clippings Page 238
TV review: Camping, Sky Atlantic
I have a bit of a confession to make. I was never a big fan of Hunderby. I liked it but was not devoted to it is many were. For some reason - Blackadder excepted - I like my comedy to be wearing modern clothes. So it is feels me with joy that Julia Davis is back in the modern world for Camping.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 13th April 2016Russell Kane, comedy review
The Peter Pan of comedy flies into adulthood, says Bruce Dessau.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 11th April 2016Udderbelly, opening gala, review
Laugh until the cows come home, says Bruce Dessau.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 11th April 2016TV: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, BBC2 - Childhood
There was a point during Stewart Lee's final Comedy Vehicle when I thought I could see the cogs moving. I thought I'd cracked it and knew what he was doing. And then he went and pulled the rug and dismantled the comedy process further, going out in excellent style. I'm not sure if we should be analysing this show though. As he persists in saying to speccy interrogator Chris Morris, De-Niro-in-Deer-Hunter style, "this is this".
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 7th April 2016Showstopper! and Mark Gatiss win Olivier Awards
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical has won the Best Entertainment and Family Show at the Olivier Awards tonight. Mark Gatiss won Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 3rd April 2016Showstopper! and Mark Gatiss win Olivier Awards
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical has won the Best Entertainment and Family Show at the Olivier Awards tonight.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 3rd April 2016Romance & Adventure with Josie Long, Radio 4 review
For those recent converts who have discovered Long through her angry anti-Tory writing this is a throwback to her more innocent dreamy days.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 1st April 2016Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, BBC2, episode 4.5 preview
One thing in particular intrigues me about Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. It felt as if he was doing warm-ups and works-in-progress for this series for at least a year in advance around the UK. I assumed that this was to get every phrase, every comma, every pause in the right place. And then along comes episode 5 and, unless he is pulling the wool over the liberal intelligentsia's eyes and engages plants and stooges like a hack magician, he frequently seems to be winging it here.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 30th March 2016Kevin Bishop to take on Ronnie Barker role in Porridge
Comedian/actor Kevin Bishop is to take on the lead role in a modern remake of prison sitcom Porridge, which originally starred Ronnie Barker as repeat offender Norman Stanley Fletcher.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 28th March 2016Preview: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, episode 4.4
Conspiracy theorists can have a field day with the fact that in some places episode four was billed as The Migrant Crisis. In fact our stand-up sage-cum-holy-fool is here to guide us through his thoughts on death this time. Did it change or did someone get it wrong? More pertinently, however, the show is a return to top form after a spot of water-treading last week.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 24th March 2016