Frankie Boyle

Frankie Boyle: 'HIGNFY is everything that's wrong'

... and don't get him started on Mock the Week. In a rare interview, the caustic Scots comic turns his fire on the BBC, Charlie Brooker and reaction to that Jordan joke.

Say what you like about Jimmy Carr, but underestimate his gagmanship at your peril. While his filthy live material is sometimes aligned with that of Frankie Boyle, Carr has a cartoonish quality lacking Boyle's mean-spiritedness, and comes out looking rather spruce. This lengthy and highly polished set was recorded at the Glasgow leg of his Making People Laugh tour, and he does, preaching to a stadium crowd of the converted with a relentless torrent of rudeness while skilfully disarming an equally relentless torrent of hecklers.

DVD review: Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights

The comedian's TV show is a mix of decent stand-up material and woeful sketches.

Jerry Sadowitz: his dark materials

Think Ricky Gervais and Frankie Boyle are offensive? Then you won't have the stomach for standup Jerry Sadowitz. Their vitriol is fake, he says: his is the real deal.

Andy Parsons interview

Frankie Boyle may have shuffled off to more controversial waters on Channel 4, but the Mock the Week ship sails on. Helmed by Dara O'Briain, it still features Spitting Image veteran Andy Parsons as a key member of the crew.

This comedy drama is an "accurate" retelling of the events surrounding the making of Monty Python's Life of Brian and the accusations against its blasphemy.

You know right from the start what you're letting yourself in for when Jesus comes onto the screen speaking Aramaic and then farts into a disciple's face. The main cast; Darren Boyd (as John Cleese), Charles Edwards (Michael Palin), Steve Punt (Eric Idle), Rufus Jones (Terry Jones), Tom Fisher (Graham Chapman) and Phil Nichol (Terry Gilliam) are great at portraying the original stars, or rather exaggerated versions of them. For example, Cleese is characterised as Basil Fawlty, Palin is the nicest man in the world and Idle is a "greedy bastard."

The programme was full of references to both Python and events relating to the modern day, and introduced by a rolling credit sequence akin to the way many episodes of Flying Circus had, which I personally found hilarious. There are other connections to the Python saga, too, like Palin's wife being played by Jones in drag (Rufus or Terry, take your pick).

Then there are the links to the actual film, such as the debate between bishops and devils which is akin to the People's Front of Judea talking about "what the Romans have ever done for us". Holy Flying Circus also refers to offensive comedy incidents in the present day, like Jerry Springer the Opera and just about anything to do with Frankie Boyle.

My favourite scene in the entire programme, however, was a cameo from Alexander McQueen as the BBC's Head of Rude Words. His wonderfully stiff performance as a typical Beeb executive reading out the rudest words he could think of was delightful. There was no racist, sexist or homophobic language - but there was a member of the Ku Klux Klan earlier on so you could argue that was covered as well.

I know many critics were dissatisfied by the fact it wasn't entirely factual. All I have to say to that is if you want something factual then watch a documentary.

Frankie Boyle banks millions

Frankie Boyle has earned a hefty £2.5million fortune from his tasteless gags over the past year.

Frankie Boyle cracks new joke about Katie Price's son

Katie Price yesterday branded controversial comic Frankie Boyle a "coward" after the funnyman again joked about her disabled eight-year-old son in a routine.

The contracts are coming at Chris Addison thick and fast these days: Skins; those ubiquitous Direct Line ads; then later this month he's presenting Show & Tell, a new E4 stand-up show in which up-and-coming comics do a short routine on a random object. In addition, to all that comes this six-week stint on Mock The Week - a show he is no stranger to, and which has badly needed a new permanent member since Frankie Boyle and Russell Howard left for pastures new.