Sharon Lougher
- Reviewer and journalist
Press clippings Page 15
For those who are interested in the election but can't face endless analysis and Jeremy Vine's Swingometer, here's some light relief: live satire from Jimmy Carr, David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker, who will be riffing off events as they unfold over four hours, with Lauren Laverne adding sass.
The quartet will be joined by a bookmaker, while there will be some pre-recorded segments that include a Come Dine With Me election special featuring Edwina Currie. Wonder if eggs are on the menu?
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 6th May 2010Mildly amusing new comedy in which a hapless documentary-maker, a psychic medium and a taxi driver turned wannabe-action star - all played by British character comic Marc Wootton - try to make it big in LA. Featuring the characters' real-life encounters with unwitting members of the public, Sacha Baron Cohen-style, it already counts Ben Stiller and Larry David as fans after its airing in the US.
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 27th April 2010The collected musings of Ricky Gervais, ]Stephen Merchant and pal Karl Pilkington broke the Guinness world record for most downloaded podcast in 2007, so it's shrewd of HBO to recycle the audio and lay it over an animation. Here the trio are rendered like they're from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon and it's certainly a fun way to hear their banter once more. It will also put Pilkington on the map: he's supremely effective as the straight man while Gervais and Merchant mess around like naughty schoolboys.
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 23rd April 2010A slick but predictably hit-and-miss sketch show starring Liam Hourican. The script and ideas need honing but some astutely observed sketches, particularly one where Louis Theroux meets Adolf Hitler for an irreverent 'Weird Weekend', suggest the Irish newbie has promise.
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 19th April 2010Time for series three, and yet again we ask the same question - how is it possible for child actors to be this funny? Episode one opens with Ben and Karen on a London sightseeing trip pondering how lions assisted during the Battle of Trafalgar and 'that king who thought he was made of glass', while parents Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner do an excellent line in bewildered.
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 8th April 2010Omid Djalili interview
Omid Djalili, the British-Iranian actor/stand-up, talks about his new film, The Infidel, which helped him towards overcoming an identity crisis.
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 8th April 2010Given his recent winning Sky series in which he tried his hand at anything from wrestling to ten pin bowling to performing in a West End musical, it's no surprise to see the warm and engaging Justin Lee Collins back in chat show format. This solo affair is filmed at London's Rivoli Ballroom, and the informal style takes us back to the days of TFI Friday (but with the added bonus of weekly celebrity darts matches - hurrah!).
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 29th March 2010Good news for Russell Howard: he's already had a third series of this filmed-in-front-of-a-live-audience show commissioned, and we're only just starting the second one. Not that this excellent comedian needs much reassurance to buoy up his always vibrant stand-up. Expect more riffing on the week's news, then - and if you're the sort of bright young thing who must get involved, submit your own news stories via the web or through Twitter.
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 25th March 2010It was only a matter of time before James Corden got his own celebrity panel show and here it is... basically, A Question Of Sport for idiots. Celeb guests include Freddie Flintoff, Neil Morrissey, David Haye and Jamie Redknapp, who spend the first half bantering loudly with their larger-than-life host about tattoos and booze - it's the televisual equivalent of Nuts magazine.
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 11th March 2010Do we need another comedy news quiz? Clearly, yes... In this one, three celebs are supposedly locked in a media-free zone for three days, then on release are asked to guess which are real out of the news stories they are subsequently presented with. The ubiquitous David Mitchell hosts, so you're in safe hands.
Sharon Lougher, Metro, 19th February 2010