Bruce Dessau
- Journalist and reviewer
Press clippings Page 277
Opinion: can Dapper Laughs come back?
As comedy goes it could not have been more meta if Stewart Lee had made a cameo appearance. Just when we thought we'd seen the last of him Dapper Laughs released a new video on YouTube on Christmas Day in which he returned to earth from a buxom wench-filled heaven and put his creator, Daniel O'Reilly in his place for attempting to kill him off by donning an existentialist's black polo neck and appearing on Newsnight.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 27th December 2014Another new show from Daniel Kitson...
Daniel Kitson has confirmed that he will be performing a new show in 2015. Polyphony will be premiered at the Northcote Hall in Melbourne from March 25 to April 19 as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 23rd December 2014TV review: Rik Mayall - Lord of Misrule, BBC2
2014 has not been a good year for comedy departures. Robin Williams and Joan Rivers left us, but it was Rik Mayall's sudden death on June 9 that struck the most resonant chord with me. Without getting all UKIP about it, Mayall was a Great British Comic and the BBC tribute Lord of Misrule was a fitting send-off.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 21st December 2014TV preview: Brian Pern, A Life In Rock, BBC2, Episode 3
Apart from the absence of a mention for Rik Mayall, the other notable omission at last week's British Comedy Awards was Brian Pern.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 20th December 2014Robin Ince's Christmas Science Ghosts, comedy review
Most comedy gigs offer audiences something to laugh about. Robin Ince's annual Bloomsbury package also offers something to think about.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 18th December 2014Nick Helm, Soho Theatre - comedy review
Nick Helm's stand-up persona is the tragic loser, taking it out on his crowd by bellowing in their faces or getting them up onstage.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 17th December 2014Review: BBC New Comedy Award Final 2014
One thing I can't help mentioning upfront is that if my social media pages are any guide Lost Voice Guy, alias Lee Ridley, must be the ante-post favourite (this bit is being posted before the competition starts). It may just be my timeline, but I've seen more appeals for people to vote for him on Twitter and Facebook than I've seen for any of the others. It may not affect the result but then maybe if it does that's appropriate - Ridley has cerebral palsy and cannot talk. He delivers his jokes via a text-to-speech app on his iPad so he certainly harnesses new technology in his act more than any of the others...
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 17th December 2014Opinion: Russell Brand on Question Time
Well he looked like a revolutionary, albeit a well-scrubbed up revolutionary. But he didn't sound much like one. I've been trying to work out what went wrong with Russell Brand's appearance on Question Time last night.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 12th December 2014Opinion: Comedians who don't want press coverage
James Acaster was on Radio 5, and while he was there ostensibly to plug his extended Soho Theatre run, you could almost hear the cogs in his brain whirring as he suddenly realised that with the DJ bigging him up so much he might be attracting gangs of Doreen-from-accounts-in-deely-boppers drunken Christmas office parties to his show.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 12th December 2014Birthday Girls, Soho Theatre - comedy review
The emphasis is on pure, uncomplicated laughs and this trio certainly has comic talent.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 11th December 2014