Category Archives: Comedy

China fines comedy firm £1.68m over standup’s stray dog joke

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Comedian apologises after some critics said gag about dogs chasing a squirrel drew parallels with country’s army

One of China’s leading comedy show companies has been fined £1.68m after a joke by one of its comedians at a standup show in Beijing about stray dogs went viral over the weekend.

In his routine, Li Haoshi, known by the stage name House, told of watching two stray dogs he had adopted chase a squirrel. The phrase that came to mind, he said, was: “Fight well, win the battle” – a punchline based on an eight-character slogan that is associated with China’s People’s Liberation Army.

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‘Treasured Australian icon’: Barry Humphries remembered as a ‘comic genius’ and ‘legend’

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Tributes have flowed across Australia, with both politicians and entertainers sharing messages praising the late comedian

Tributes have flowed in Australia for Barry Humphries, with politicians and fellow entertainers remembering him as an “icon” who left an “indelible legacy on the history of Australian comedy”.

Humphries – best known for his character Dame Edna Everage – died surrounded by family in an inner-Sydney hospital on Saturday, where he had been receiving treatment for complications after hip surgery he had after a fall earlier this year. The 89-year-old had been living in London, and had travelled to Sydney for Christmas, falling ill during his trip.

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Goodnight possum! Tributes to Dame Edna creator Barry Humphries

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World mourns ‘unique wit’ of Australian star and inventor of vivid stage personas, who has died aged 89

Like bouquets of appropriately lurid gladioli, colourful tributes to the memory of Barry Humphries piled up this weekend as his many fans adjusted to a dimmer world without Dame Edna Everage.

Mourning Humphries, who was taken ill in Sydney last week with complications after hip surgery, means saying goodbye to his charismatic, hyper-real fictional personas: not only “the Australian housewife and superstar” Dame Edna, with her radiant, rinsed hairdo, trademark sparkling spectacles and bright gladioli, but also to the revolting Australian cultural attaché, Sir Les Patterson, and the irrepressibly dull Sandy Stone. Over decades, each of these stage characters has mischievously shaped the world’s view of Australians, satirising the stereotypical lack of taste that British “pommies” enjoy looking down on.

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‘Simply the greatest’: comedians pay tribute to ‘genius’ Barry Humphries

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Ricky Gervais, Rob Brydon and Matt Lucas among those paying homage to the Dame Edna Everage star who has died aged 89

Comedy stars from around the world have paid tribute to the late Barry Humphries, hailing him a “true great”.

Humphries, best known for his character Dame Edna Everage, died in hospital in Sydney on Saturday aged 89.

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Why are British audiences suddenly so out of control? – podcast

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From fights at the Bodyguard musical to wild drunken antics at comedy clubs and even heckling at the opera, performers and theatre staff say crowds are getting out of hand. What’s going on?

From drunken revellers singing over emotional ballads at jukebox musicals to an opera-goer heckling a child performer, there has been a growing number of news stories since the pandemic about people behaving badly at entertainment venues. Then came the headlines about the police being called to the Bodyguard musical to quell an actual fight.

So what, exactly, is happening to British audiences, which are stereotypically seen as polite and even repressed? Theatre critic Alice Savile tells Nosheen Iqbal about her recent wild nights out at the theatre, and how front-of-house staff are finding it hard to cope. We hear from usher Bethany North on the abuse she’s experienced.

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UK comedians pay tribute to Gareth Richards after his death at 41

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Co-host of Frank Skinner’s Absolute Radio show dies from injuries sustained in car crash in late March

Comedians across the UK have paid tribute to the comic Gareth Richards, who has died aged 41 from injuries sustained in a car crash on the M25 last month.

Richards’ wife, Laura, said in a statement on Saturday: “It is with great sadness that I have to share that Gareth passed away on Friday 7 April (Good Friday) at 6.30pm.

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Frank Skinner says former radio co-host Gareth Richards is fighting for his life

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Comedian broke down in tears live on air as he told listeners his friend was involved in serious road accident

Frank Skinner told listeners to his Saturday radio show that his friend and former co-host Gareth Richards is fighting for his life after a car crash.

The 66-year-old comedian and broadcaster broke down in tears as he revealed that Richards was in a “very big road accident” on Monday.

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Richard Belzer, Detective John Munch in TV hits, dies aged 78

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Standup comedian played police role in Homicide: Life on the Streets, Law & Order: SVU and other series

Richard Belzer, a stand-up comedian who became one of TV’s most indelible detectives as John Munch in Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU, has died. He was 78.

Belzer died on Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southern France, his longtime friend Bill Scheft told the Hollywood Reporter.

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Ruth Madoc, Hi-de-Hi! and Fiddler on the Roof actor, dies aged 79

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Agent pays tribute to ‘unique talent loved by many’ who played Gladys Pugh in BBC comedy series

The Hi-de-Hi! actor Ruth Madoc has died aged 79 after a fall.

Madoc became a household name playing “chief yellowcoat” Gladys Pugh in the BBC One sitcom. The show ran for eight years from 1980 and was set in a fictional holiday camp, Maplins, during the 1950s.

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Fleabag producer brings Berlusconi musical to London stage

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‘Fierce, feminist’ show from Francesca Moody is written by former Grange Hill actors Ricky Simmonds and Simon Vaughan and tells an ‘almost true’ story

A musical about Silvio Berlusconi that is described as “Evita on acid”, written by two former Grange Hill stars and features a song called My Weekend With Vladimir is to be staged in London next year.

Entitled Berlusconi, it is billed as an “almost true story” and produced by Francesca Moody who is best known for her success with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag. The musical depicts the three-time former Italian PM on the eve of the verdict in his trial for tax fraud as he looks back on his rise and fall and resolves to write an autobiographical opera. His story is then told through the eyes of three women: Ilda Boccassini, the Milan magistrate known as Ilda the Red who investigated him; Berlusconi’s second wife, the actor Veronica Lario, who left him in 2009 after nearly 20 years of marriage; and the character of a journalist who is based on real people. “It places a fierce feminist lens on him,” said Moody of the musical. “These women are telling their story.”

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Jay Leno’s face burned in LA garage after car bursts into flames

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Comedian taken to burn center but eye and ear are not severely damaged: ‘I am OK’

Jay Leno was taken to Grossman Burn Center after his face was burned in his Los Angeles garage when one of his cars burst into flames.

The left side of former The Tonight Show host’s face was burned, but Leno’s eye and ear were not severely damaged.

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Actor Leslie Jordan dies at 67 in car accident

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Reports suggest that the character actor appears to have suffered a medical emergency before crashing his car in Hollywood

Actor Leslie Jordan has died after a car accident in Los Angeles on Monday at the age of 67.

Law enforcement sources told TMZ and then the Los Angeles Times that they suspected the beloved actor suffered a medical emergency before crashing his BMW into the side of a building in Hollywood.

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The Onion defends right to parody in very real supreme court brief supporting local satirist

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Long-running satirical publication files legal document relating to case of man who was arrested for making fun of police

The clarion call of justice is sounding across America once again, thanks to the tireless efforts of its finest purveyor of made-up news.

The Onion, the long-running satirical publication, has filed a very real legal document with the US supreme court, urging it to take on a case centered on the right to parody. And in order to make a serious legal point, the filing does what the Onion does best, offering a big helping of total nonsense.

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Laughing all the way to the West Bank: the blind Palestinian comedian tearing down barriers

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Joke by joke, standup sensation Sherihan El Hadwa is challenging lazy stereotypes about victimhood

On a small stage in Tulkarm, a city in the north of the occupied West Bank, Sherihan El Hadwa emerges from the wings to a Palestinian pop song. Dancing and waving the long white cane she uses to navigate the world, the visually impaired comedian already has her audience laughing and clapping along to the music.

Hadwa did not have an obvious route into standup comedy, and the many difficulties of life as a disabled woman in the Palestinian territories are not a straightforwardly humorous topic.

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Edinburgh notebook: ‘Rik Mayall was like Bad Santa to us’

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Stand-up comic Red Richardson on his pedigree comedy childhood

Driving Rik Mayall around would be entertaining work for anyone, but for the young Red Richardson, the job he had in his 20s was the continuation of a childhood bond.

Mayall, who died suddenly in 2014 at the age of 56, was a near neighbour in South Devon, but he was also Richardson’s father’s close friend.

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Equity union launches working practices charter for comedians

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Measures aim to ensure safety, pay transparency and anti-harassment and discrimination policies

The performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity has launched a comedian’s charter in an effort to ensure good working practices and the safety of performers.

Developed by the union’s comedians’ network, the measures included in the charter “will ensure pay transparency, a safe working environment, late-night safety, and anti-harassment and discrimination policies”, according to Equity.

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Joe Lycett standup joke investigated by police after complaint

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Comedian says he was asked to explain context of gag to investigating officers, and will keep it in his show

The comedian Joe Lycett has said he was investigated by the police after an audience member made a complaint about a joke in one of his shows.

In a post on Instagram, he revealed that he was asked to explain the context of the gag and that the authorities have now closed the case.

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Mo’Nique and Netflix reportedly settle lawsuit alleging discrimination

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The Oscar-winning comedian and actor accused the streamer of racial and sexual discrimination over a proposed comedy special

Mo’Nique and Netflix reportedly have settled her lawsuit that accused the streaming service of racial and sexual discrimination for allegedly making her a lowball offer for a proposed comedy special.

The matter has been “amicably resolved”, Michael Parks, an attorney representing Mo’Nique in the suit, told the Hollywood Reporter.

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This is Spinal Tap sequel in the works with original team attached

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Director Rob Reiner is bringing back the cast of the much-loved rock mockumentary for a follow-up set to be released in 2024

A sequel to the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap is in the works with the original director and cast.

Spinal Tap II will see Rob Reiner return as both film-maker on and off the screen along with Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest. The film will be released in 2024 on the 1984 original’s 40th anniversary.

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BBC to invest £10m and double comedy pilots in bid to find next Fleabag

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BBC Comedy development drive to fuel search for ‘relatable British characters’

The BBC will double the number of half-hour comedy pilots it makes and invest an extra £10m in the genre in a bid to find the next Fleabag or Motherland.

Sharing plans for the future of comedy at the corporation, the director of BBC Comedy, Jon Petrie, said his department was investing in its “development process”.

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