Steve Williams

Balham Comedy Festival announces 2019 Line-Up

The annual Balham Comedy Festival has announced the first raft of guests for the festival which runs from 5 - 13 July at The Bedford in south London.

Defining the Norm winners announced

Will Franken reveals the winners of the first-ever Defining the Norm Awards.

The Defining the Norm Awards: the nominees

Comedian Will Franken honours the most conformist acts at the Edinburgh Fringe.

50 must-see comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe (Link expired)

Here at WOW 247 we've pooled together our comedy brains to pick out a whopping 50 shows we think make a good starting point for any Fringe adventurer.

The Rack Pack: Did it score a maximum break?

Unveiled on the evening of the Masters Final (and the iPlayer team offer their huge gratitude to Ronnie O'Sullivan for winning so quickly everyone could watch both), the film has generated a huge response on social media.

Radio Times review

If you don't know what the title means, "gert lush" is the highest form of praise a Bristolian can bestow on anything. So clearly expectations are high for Russell Howard's debut comedy drama (co-written with Steve Williams) that also features Neil Morrissey (dressed like "a pervert elf" as his fitness-obsessed dad), Greg Davies (as his party loving uncle), Steve Williams, Sophie Thomson (his inappropriately enthusiastic mum) and Howard's sister Kerry of Him and Her fame.

The premise is simple: Dan (Howard) introduces his girlfriend to his crazy West Country family over Christmas. Kerry has said the script is "just a massive love letter to our mum and dad". Which is a bit worrying.

Interview: Steve Williams, comedian

Interview with the stand-up comic Steve Williams.

I was really looking forward to this series because I think we need more family-friendly laugh-tracked silly comedy on our screens. Sadly it's not quite there yet, with some inspired gags and genuinely funny jokes mixed with some rather iffy character development and scenes which cross the line from 'silly' to 'stupid'. If it reminds me of anything it's Hippies - another much-hyped series from some big names which was enjoyable and amusing, but also chaotic and sometimes self-indulgent.

Sadly too it looks like Lab Rats is following in the footsteps of Hippies by performing quite poorly in the ratings and enduring some stinking reviews. It's perhaps to be expected - watching Robin Ince in a silly wig running around shouting for an entire episode is something that's always going to be an acquired taste. But I'm sticking with it, and it'd be a shame if it didn't get a second series after this week's episode, if not the funniest half hour of television this year, was almost certainly the cleverest.

We're more than halfway through the latest series of Gavin and Stacey and so far, hardly anything has actually, you know, happened. But that's all to the good, because I reckon this is the funniest, most warm-hearted sitcom on telly for ages.

What's great is that all the characters in the series are likable, with even the more overt comic characters like Uncle Bryn and Nessa being fully rounded and sympathetic, without simply being used to set up jokes. The performances are exceptional too - James Corden is a great comedy actor and lights up the screen whenever he appears, and although some people seem to be finding Joanna Page a bit annoying, I think she's playing it just right, and her accent just makes the lines funnier.