Late 'N' Live Guide To Comedy

Comedy in song at the Fringe

series has come to an end, but for those of you who missed it, BBC iPlayer will be showing it for a while yet - just look up Late 'n' Live Guide to Comedy.

This series has unusual insights into the craft and psyche of the stand-up comedian. Comics talk about past gigs, but specifically about gigs at Edinburgh's notorious Late'N'Live, an out-of-control 1am bearpit where acts who show any weakness are trampled by drunken hecklers. All the normal skills of the trade are useless as the comic engages in a fight to the death with the audience. Cutely, the programme plays its interviewees footage of their worst/best moments and watches as they relive them.

It's never too late to learn

Imagine having your own TV series on BBC One on your birthday... well that's what happened to me this week. All went well, with friends forcing themselves to stay up later than usual on a school night. Thank God for the TV recording apparatus - so many people either recorded Late 'n' Live Guide To Comedy or watched it on BBC iPlayer.

Late 'n' Live Guide to Comedy, review

The greatest hits of the legendary Fringe bear-pit makes an appearance on TV.

Once again we come across another example of a great comedy programme that is only on in Scotland (thank goodness for the iPlayer). Late 'n' Live Guide to Comedy is a six-part documentary series about the Late 'n' Live comedy show at the Gilded Balloon venue during the Edinburgh Fringe.

For those who don't know, this is a series of late night stand-up shows featuring several comedians performing on stage in front of an audience who are usually loud, drunk and willing to heckle at any given opportunity. To quote Jenny Eclair, the greatest error made when you're try to avoid heckling at Late 'n' Live is when "you make the mistake of breathing," and thus leave a short enough pause for someone to shout: "Fuck off!"

Other than learning about the history of the late-night show, the best thing about this documentary is watching some early stand-up performances by famous names. These include Johnny Vegas encouraging his audience to throw coins at him while he sang and Russell Brand in 2001, who at the time had only performed between 20-30 gigs. His stand-up involved deliberately angering and provoking the audience - what a surprise. But this lead to a storm of abuse and Brand getting an encore.

During the encore someone tried to throw a glass bottle at him. It missed Brand, but a shard landed in the leg of the next act, Fiona O'Loughlin, meaning she was bleeding when she went on stage...

Late 'n' Live Guide to Comedy

For over 25 years, Edinburgh Fringe audiences have gathered, like Romans to the Coliseum, to watch comedians fight against hecklers at the Gilded Balloon venue and it's Late 'n' Live event.

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Russell Brand says a chaotic Scots gig helped him to quit drugs and make it as a stand-up.

TV preview: Late 'n' Live Guide to Comedy

It's the toughest comedy gig around. Now the comics who played there and lived to tell the tale reveal their harrowing stories in a four-part TV documentary.

TV revisits city's legendary Late 'n' Live comedy club

Over a quarter of a century, the Late 'n' Live stage has welcomed those brave enough to accept its challenge. A new BBC Scotland series entitled The Late 'n' Live Guide To Comedy begins a four-week run on BBC One from next Monday.