Late 'N' Live Guide To Comedy

Late 'N' Live Guide to Comedy is a four-part series revealing what has made Late 'N' Live one of the world's most notorious comedy clubs.

Narrated by Lynn Ferguson, the series features interviews and previously unseen archive with a star lineup of some of the biggest names in stand-up before they were famous.

Edinburgh Fringe audiences have, for over the past 25 years, gathered like Romans to the Coliseum to watch comedians fight against hecklers at The Gilded Balloon venue. These people are renowned as the comedy world's most unpredictable audience; never sedated by a famous name - they expect laughs or they give better than they get.

To many it's known as the comedians' graveyard, with some performances there becoming the cautionary tales of comedy folklore, but that hasn't deterred some of the best known names in comedy wanting to take on the Late 'N' Live crowd - a group of people who know that they are in control.

The woman behind both Late 'N' Live and The Gilded Balloon is Karen Koren who says: "When we started Late 'N' Live it was the first late night compilation show at the Edinburgh Fringe. It couldn't have happened anywhere else and was part of what makes this festival brilliant. I'd literally collar comedians during the afternoon or after their gigs and tell them that they were booked. We never knew what the audiences would be like, and in some ways the wilder they were meant that the challenge was greater. There was and is nothing bland about Late 'N' Live; I've seen some of the best known names in comedy die on their backsides and others pack a punch that I didn't know they had. I'm more than pleased that we can show people what real comedy is like".

Russell Brand, Johnny Vegas, Dara O'Briain, Jason Byrne, Shappi Khorsandi, Andrew Maxwell, Ed Byrne, Ross Noble, Bill Bailey, Zoe Lyons, Fred MacAulay, Caroline Rhea and Rich Hall are amongst the names appearing.