Items up for auction from Eric Morecambe’s family home show Ernie Wise had doubts about pair’s future
They became arguably the greatest comedy duo Britain has ever produced but if Eric Morecambe had listened to a young and despondent Ernie Wise they would have split up before ever getting properly started.
A poignant 1950 letter from Wise to Morecambe is part of a remarkable treasure trove of memorabilia to be auctioned in the new year.
Continue reading...Best known as one half of D’Unbelievables, Kenny also starred in Father Ted and The Banshees of Inisherin
The Irish prime minister has led tributes to the comedian and actor Jon Kenny, who has died at the age of 66.
Kenny died on Friday evening in Galway Clinic, his wife, Margie, told the Limerick Leader on Saturday.
Continue reading...Godley, whose comedy drew upon her Glasgow upbringing, died ‘surrounded by her loved ones’, her management says
Janey Godley, the Scottish comedian and author whose quick wit led her to swap pint-pulling in Glasgow for international standup tours, has died aged 63.
She died in a hospice “surrounded by her loved ones”, her management said on Saturday. Godley had announced she was receiving palliative care in September after her terminal cancer spread.
Continue reading...It emerged from the slime of the sunshine state during Bjelke-Petersen’s oppressive regime. Now it’s back – but can it survive more sensitive times?
A man whose pseudonym is Johnny La Rue is holding a yellowed magazine with two toad-headed lovers embracing on the front. He reads aloud a headline that would likely trigger a firestorm on social media were it written today.
“Who wrote that?!” he exclaims.
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Continue reading...Scottish standup posts video saying she is getting palliative care and will be going into a hospice
The comedian Janey Godley has revealed she is receiving end-of-life care after her terminal cancer spread.
The 63-year-old announced she would be getting palliative care and going into a hospice in a video shared on social media on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Star of game-changing sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, and Christmas comedy Elf, had period of illness
Bob Newhart, the revered US comedian and star of two classic sitcoms known for his deadpan delivery, died on Thursday at the age of 94.
The Chicago native and titular star of game-changing sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart in the 1970s and 80s, died at his home in Los Angeles after a period of short illnesses, his publicist Jerry Digney confirmed in a statement.
Continue reading...Sebastian Hotz, aka El Hotzo, was dropped from his radio show and provoked anger from Elon Musk after now-deleted posts on X
A 28-year-old German comedian has got into trouble with Donald Trump supporters and then Elon Musk after sending a series of tweets appearing to welcome the assassination attempt on the former US president.
Sebastian Hotz, who posts and performs as El Hotzo, lost his job with a public broadcaster this week for a series of tweets on X, Musk’s social media platform, after Trump narrowly escaped death, saying that the attempt had been like the last bus – “unfortunately, just missed”.
Continue reading...Researchers say standups’ contribution is unsung, and hope findings will help to bolster the industry’s credibility
The live comedy industry in the UK contributes more than £1bn to the economy every year, according to a study by Brunel University London.
In the first project of its kind, researchers calculated the industry’s annual value at £1bn, based on an estimated 3,000 workers in the sector, surveying more than 350 comedians, promoters, producers, venue managers and agents.
Continue reading...It’s no joke for new shows as classic favourites live on while investment in sitcoms and sketches falters
There is a quip beloved of comedians, when asked if their industry is going down the pan: “Nostalgia? It ain’t what it used to be.”
But for fans of well-worn jokes, and the shows in which they appear, 2024 could be truly a golden era.
Continue reading...Will Stewart’s satire still cut through in a post-pandemic world of disinformation, polarisation and fragmented media?
Barack Obama was US president. Britain was a lynchpin of the European Union. Harvey Weinstein was a powerful movie mogul. Meghan Markle was starring in Suits. “TikTok” did not mean anything and fake news meant a satirical TV program with pretend reporters.
That was the world Jon Stewart left behind when he hosted his last episode of The Daily Show on the Comedy Central network on 6 August 2015, denying a legion of fans his lacerating take on the election, presidency, impeachment, defeat, impeachment again and comeback of Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Estate says Dudesy podcast outlet had no license to Carlin’s likeness or copyrighted material, which was used to create special
The estate of George Carlin is suing the media company behind a fake, hour-long comedy special whose creators boasted of using artificial intelligence to re-create the late standup comic’s style and material.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday asks that a judge order the podcast outlet Dudesy to immediately take down the audio special, George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead, in which a synthesis of Carlin delivers commentary on current events. Carlin died in 2008.
Continue reading...There was outrage when the vice-president was mocked last month by an opposition MP, but social commentators say India is increasingly a country that cannot take a joke
It is rare for India’s politicians to laugh at themselves, but a row over an act of mimicry has exposed the extent of the lack of humour and intolerance of satire in the country’s political and public life.
Over the past two weeks, politicians have traded insults over an impersonation of India’s vice-president, Jagdeep Dhankhar, by the opposition MP Kalyan Banerjee.
Continue reading...Artist says Tony Allen’s surly stewards ended up as the most talked about part of his 2015 ‘bemusement park’
Banksy has paid tribute to a late comedian who trained 100 teenagers to be “the most surly and incompetent employees in the history of hospitality” for his 2015 Dismaland exhibition.
In a rare step, the reclusive graffiti artist has written a piece recalling his time with the comedian Tony Allen, which was read on BBC Radio 4’s obituary programme, Last Word, on Friday.
Continue reading...Tom and brother Dick’s groundbreaking CBS show was pulled when they took a stance against Vietnam war and for civil rights
Tom Smothers, half of the comedy group the Smothers Brothers, has died at the age of 86.
Smothers was described as “not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life”, but as “a one-of-a-kind creative partner”, according to a statement by his brother Dick Smothers on Wednesday shared by the National Comedy Center.
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau and Adele among public figures to speak fondly of actor best known as Chandler Bing in Friends
World leaders and Hollywood stars have hailed the “comedic genius” of Friends star Matthew Perry after the actor’s death at 54.
The American-Canadian star, best known for playing Chandler Bing in the sitcom Friends, was found dead in an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home on Saturday.
Continue reading...In a 20-minute video, the comedian disputes the magazine’s suggestion that he went too far in exaggerating his experiences
A month after the comedian Hasan Minhaj was accused of misleading audiences with his personal stories, the Daily Show alum has responded with an in-depth video. His argument: there’s a difference between his political TV comedy and the personal stories he tells in his standup.
A New Yorker article suggested that Minhaj, who is Muslim, had gone too far in exaggerating his own experiences with racism, Islamophobia and political backlash, including claims about an FBI informant at his childhood mosque and the hospitalization of his daughter in an anthrax scare. The story may have undermined his chance to be the next Daily Show host.
Continue reading...Younger audiences may not recognise people comedians are impersonating but some performers say there’s still plenty to work with
“If I see somebody become famous, and they’ve got tremendously predominant mannerisms and they speak a certain way which is unusual, I go for it right away,” the veteran impressionist Mike Yarwood once said of the public figures he mimicked.
But in the decades since Yarwood drew up to 18 million viewers to his BBC shows – with his impressions of the likes of Harold Wilson and the football manager Brian Clough – the cultural touchstones that once defined celebrity have exponentially shifted. With traditional TV viewership continuing to decline among younger generations, impressionists are faced with a new challenge – today’s digital natives may not readily recognise the people they are impersonating.
Continue reading...Makeshift outdoor show held after two venues cancel booking of comedian known for his gender-critical beliefs
A comedy event featuring Father Ted creator Graham Linehan was staged in the open air outside the Scottish parliament on Thursday evening, after a second Edinburgh venue refused to stage it.
The organisers, Comedy Unleashed, booked the plaza outside Holyrood’s main entrance, and erected a small makeshift stage for an audience of roughly 120 people, after failing to find another indoor venue.
Continue reading...Hollywood films vying for Golden Lion include Bradley Cooper’s Maestro and Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, with non-competition films by Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater
The Venice film festival appears to have largely shrugged off issues caused by non-attendance of Hollywood actors due to the Sag-Aftra strike as it unveiled its lineup for its 2023 edition.
Venice has traditionally functioned partly as a platform for major American releases looking for strong positioning in the autumn awards season, and it has already seen its originally announced opening film Challengers, a tennis drama starring Zendaya, drop out after it was forced to delay its release date.
Continue reading...Comic Li Haoshi made joke about soldiers that Beijing authorities deemed insulting
Chinese police detained a woman for posting online in support of the comedian who was punished for making a joke that authorities said insulted the Chinese military.
According to state media, the 34-year-old woman, reportedly surnamed Shi, admitted to police that she had posted “inappropriate” comments about Chinese soldiers.
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