Bruce Dessau
- Journalist and reviewer
Press clippings Page 281
Opinion: did Jimmy Carr go too far?
Now I'm not going to dissect the joke here and suggest that his first remark was punching up while his second was punching down. Nor am I going to discuss the timing of the gag, only a day after the sentencing of Pistorius. What I'm interested in is the question of whether the audience was really as offended by the gag as some reports suggest?
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 23rd October 2014Lee Mack review
Lee Mack miraculously bridges the gap between alternative and mainstream, even if at times he is a whisker away from mother-in-law material.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 21st October 2014Radio 4 comedy commissioner quits
Caroline Raphael, Commissioning Editor Comedy and Fiction, BBC Radio 4 and Commissioning Editor, BBC Radio 4 Extra has decided to leave the BBC early next spring.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 20th October 2014Essential tips for new comics by James Woroniecki
James Woroniecki is the Director of the 99 Club, which runs Comedy Clubs across London and has been awarded Best London Club at the Chortle Awards for the last four years running. He has an enviable record of nurturing new talent as well as playing host to some of the biggest names in comedy such as Jack Whitehall and Russell Howard. He has kindly offered to share some of his wisdom: "In my capacity as the UK's most successful multi-award winning comedy promoter I'm often asked to offer advice to new comedians. In such cases I naturally seek insight from the source of all wisdom late 90s dance music, specifically Olive's classic "You're not alone"...
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 17th October 2014Interview: Rarely Asked Questions - Tom Wrigglesworth
An interview with stand-up Tom Wrigglesworth.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 16th October 2014Maxine Peake confirmed as Women In Comedy patron
Maxine Peake has been confirmed as Patron of the Women in Comedy Festival, which opened in Manchester over the weekend. On her appointment, Peake commented, "I'm proud to be supporting the UK Women in Comedy Festival as a patron. A festival filled with laughter combined with feminist principles taking place in the North ... what's not to support!"
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 14th October 2014Book review: More Fool Me by Stephen Fry
This is, of course, a well-written book. But it is also a very big book, which it didn't need to be. The opening eighty pages or so are a recap of his life so far, while a hefty chunk at the end is Palin-style diary entries with intermittent added footnotes. But the thing about Fry is that he is a larger-than-life figure, making huge sums of money, dining with the Great and the Good, hoovering up marathon lines of marching powder back in the day. He could hardly deliver a piddly paperback could he?
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 13th October 2014The Tommyfield - comedy review
Sometimes club gigs toss you a curveball. Last night's first act, Suzi Ruffell, was taken ill just before going onstage. Newer comics Alex Smith and Mark Silcox gamely plugged the gap while supersub Lloyd Griffith biked over from Battersea.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 10th October 2014Review: Just Like That! - The Museum of Comedy
I arrived a little late for Just Like That! but I soon worked out what was going on. I had originally assumed that this was a revival of the play by John Fisher about Tommy Cooper's life that ran in the West End a few years back. In fact it is a more straightforward trick-by-trick tribute to the comedian famous for his fumbling manner and his fez.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 9th October 2014Robert Newman, Leicester Square Theatre - comedy review
Robert Newman sets himself up against his bogeyman Richard Dawkins, satirising his concept of the selfish gene with a routine about a postman trying to deliver a parcel to Dawkins and ending up wrestling naked with him.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard, 9th October 2014