Lee Evans

Christmas comedy memoirs roundup

Lee Evans, Johnny Vegas, Jason Manford and Simon Day all have books on the way.

It's Lady Gaga tonight, but what will she wear? On Ross's BBC1 show she wore a 1930s telephone as a hat, while with Graham Norton she wore a kind of ghost's wedding dress. But it's not all surface: Gaga can be frank, charming and funny if she's in the mood, and Ross is a big fan. More than making up the numbers are Jamie Oliver and Lee Evans.

Lee Evans show at O2 cancelled after water main problem

Comedian Lee Evans' show at the O2 in Greenwich has been cancelled because of an earlier "water main issue".

Comedy memoirs battle for Christmas bestseller list

James Corden, Lee Evans and Jason Manford are among those in the race for a top slot on the Christmas book bestseller lists.

The Arts Desk Q&A: Comedian Lee Evans

Lee Evans (b 1964) has been doing his brand of unruly physical comedy onstage since his teens.

BBC One's My Favourite Joke features various comics talking about their favourite comedy moments. It's like a Channel 4 poll but without the public interfering. It is the sort of show you would expect Stewart Lee to make a satirical routine about, and if Del falling through the bar in Only Fools and Horses is picked as one of those moments, no doubt he will.

In the latest episode, the moments chosen were Lee Evans' Bohemian Rhapsody mime; the scene in Rising Damp in which Rigsby uses burning wood to charm Miss Jones; the American comic Sam Kinison ranting against his ex-wife; Lucille Ball on roller skates, and Andre Previn's performance with Morecambe and Wise.

The thing is with these shows is that is tempting to say that they are a waste of airtime, and that it would be better to make an actual show that wasn't just full of clips. People say this all the time, but let's be honest, if they did make a show for that slot the chances are it probably won't be anything decent. It would just probably just be tat.

It's rather like people complaining about there being too many repeats on the BBC. Rubbish! In my view, there's not enough. There is a simple way to tell if there is, namely by looking at the entire schedule and pointing out all the awful TV shows that are out there. Scrap them, try to make some decent new shows in some slots and put some repeats of shows that you know are decent in the others. Look at the recent repeat run of Only Fools on daytime BBC One. It's been getting big ratings. Rather than put on some programme about property development on, just put on Dad's Army. No-one in their right mind would object to that.

Getting back to the show in hand, I suppose the main merit of these shows is that there will be quite a few comedy clips on My Favourite Joke that people in Britain many not have seen before. I've never seen The Lucy Show for example, and the roller skating routine is a very good piece of slapstick. So these shows do sometimes introduce to new experiences, which can only be a good thing.

Yes, it's yet another talking heads/clips show but it does give us an opportunity to relive some cracking stand-up routines - last week's gave us Eddie Izzard covered in make-up and looking dazzling as he delivered his super skit about school-level French from his 1990s Dress To Kill show. This time, Bill Hicks rightly gets a look-in, as does Lee Evans's ingeniously physical Bohemian Rhapsody routine. Jonathan Ross, Micky Flanagan and Rich Hall are among those sharing their reverence.

Well done to the 15,000 people who actually paid for tickets to this comedy marathon a couple of weeks ago at London's cavernous O2 Arena.

It was all in a good cause - for Great Ormond Street - but you can see it without forking out for the Tube fare.

Alan Carr, Dara O'Briain, Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre, Jack Whitehall - if there's a comedian you've heard of but have not got around to seeing in the flesh, they're most probably going to be here.

As Jack Dee drily notes, the backstage area must have been quite an experience - all those comedians sitting around... NOTICING things.

It's hard to pick a standout stand-up, but Sarah Millican is fabulous and Sean Lock goes down a storm with topical gags about Ryan Giggs and Twitter.

And I love the introduction Lock got from Jonathan Ross: "He couldn't be more attractive to the ladies if he was a Take That ticket made of chocolate. That vibrates."

If you like your stand-up delivered at close quarters in a basement club, this is not for you. It's the behemoth of comedy occasions, a gathering of 20 or so top comics in front of a vast audience at the O2 arena. The event happened a couple of weeks ago and the consensus was that Sean Lock took the honours with his routine, including a topical line about the real cause of the ash cloud being Ryan Giggs burning newspapers. Michael McIntyre, Lee Evans and Sarah Millican add to the fun.