Steve Punt

Brexitphobic comedians are the real populists

Sneering at the 'enemy within', stand-ups today are bien pensant demagogues.

Radio review: The Now Show

Despite liking Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt since they emerged as Jasper Carrott's TV sidekicks, I've never been a big fan of The Now Show. Seeing it being made was far more fun than I've ever found it on air. Maybe the inclusion of relatively unknown Welsh performers like Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Tudur Owen and Lisa Jen Brown gave it a kick up the backside?

Rory Bremner did his best, and that's always almost by definition a hit-and-miss affair on TV. You can get sharper satire from Steve Punt on radio's The Now Show, and he manages it weekly. But there were some grand moments, not least his Cameron (whose voice he's now pretty much mastered; less so Miliband), here attempting to find a Blairite third way. "People are fed up with the old politics, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. But both can happen."

Stone me, is it really 60 years since the first Hancock

What's more, he's been dead for 46 of those years. I don't remember him, actually. I was just a nipper at the time. But, by golly, he's influential beyond the grave.

Radio Times review

Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt are the perfect hosts for this satirical minefield of a series. They have done it long enough to know when they are teetering on the edge of a brilliant gag or crossing the line into the darkest areas of BBC Compliance.

But they also have a crack production team to thank for this show's success -- it's recorded on a Thursday evening, editing starts at 9am on Friday and it's ready for broadcast at 6.30pm. And it is also a producer I have to thank for informing me that Hugh Dennis is only absent from this first show and back for programme two.

Video: Punt and Dennis on making 'news' funny

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis have reformed to produce a touring show called Ploughing on Regardless as well as their regular radio show.

Punt and Dennis: Ploughing on Regardless, touring

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis's new show is entertaining even if it sometimes feels like old news, says Dominic Cavendish.

Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt on their funny relationship

From sharing a flat to going on the road, comedians Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt have been working together for 25 years - and they still find each other funny.