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Fears eased over Festival performer visa crisis

8 May 2008

Fears that thousands of performers at the Edinburgh Festival would be prevented from entering the UK due to new immigration legislation have been eased with the introduction of a new type of visa. The Home Office has announced that visiting…

O Lucky Man!

O Lucky Man!

(5 stars)8 May 2008

COMEDY/SATIRE (15) 169min (Warner Home Video) Lindsay Anderson’s 1973 masterpiece is long overdue a proper DVD release, particularly since it’s rarely shown on our television or cinema screens. In O Lucky Man!, Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell…

Eilidh MacAskill

Eilidh MacAskill and her Daily Ukulele Ceilidh

8 May 2008

MUSICAL COMEDY Last year, one woman set out on an incredible journey. There were tears. There was laughter. There were good times, there were bad, and there were midnight YouTube sessions in front of her cat, as Eilidh MacAskill attempted a…

John Hegley

5 Things you might not know about - John Hegley

8 May 2008

As part of comedy group The Popticians, he recorded two sessions for John Peel in 1984. Being a spectacle-wearer has been one of Hegley’s long-term points of reference. Do not get him started on contact lenses. He went off to France to revisit the place…

Daniel Kitson

Daniel Kitson

8 May 2008

The bearded wonder returns for two sell-out shows which will showcase The Impotent Fury of the Privileged which did so well at the recent Melbourne Comedy Festival. Daniel Kitson? Furious? Impotent? Privileged? We're not quite sure where to look.

Leith Festival announces line up

8 May 2008

Leith provided further evidence of its status as one of the city's most vibrant areas with the launch of its annual festival. Organisers revealed that the Leith Festival would showcase its trademark brew of home grown talent, alongside big name…

Smart People

Smart People

(2 stars)8 May 2008

COMEDY DRAMA (15) 94min Another week and another dysfunctional American family comedy. Scripted by novelist Mark Poirier and directed by newcomer Noam Murro, Smart People examines the improbable rejuvenation of widowed, middle-aged English professor…

Welcome to the Sticks

(2 stars)8 May 2008

COMEDY (12A) 106min Dany Boon’s box-office hit is the most successful French movie of all time. In just seven weeks on release, it broke 1966 comedy La Grande Vadrouille’s record for the highest ever attendance for a French film on home soil with 17…

William Sutcliffe - Whatever Makes You Happy

William Sutcliffe - Whatever Makes You Happy

(3 stars)8 May 2008

FAMILY COMEDY (Bloomsbury) William Sutcliffe, Edinburgh-based spouse to Maggie O’Farrell and schoolmate of Ali G, is still best known for his 1997 coming of age debut Are You Experienced? Eleven years and three more books later, his fifth novel…

Edinburgh Festivals Forum appoints Susan Rice as Chair

24 Apr 2008

The Edinburgh Festivals Forum, the commission set up to oversee the strategic development of Edinburgh's Festivals and to maintain the city's position as the pre-eminent festival city, has announced the appointment of Susan Rice as Chair. Rice, who…

Chris Rock to play Edinburgh

24 Apr 2008

American comedian and actor Chris Rock is to play Edinburgh's Playhouse on 28 May. The gig, which follows Rock's sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena and Brixton Academy earlier this year, will be his only one Scottish date for the time…

Ladyfest

Ladyfest

24 Apr 2008

ARTS FESTIVAL Various venues, Edinburgh, Sun 4 May–Sun 1 Jun Ruby-red lips, set perms and Avon panstick. Not the traditional image of a feminist – certainly not the popular, laddish stereotype of a feminist. However, Ladyfest, Edinburgh’s first…

Jimmy Carr

Jimmy Carr

24 Apr 2008

STAND-UP Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Thu 24 Apr Some people out there have looked upon his stand-up and TV work and judged Jimmy Carr to be a smug, self-satisfied posh guy who would undoubtedly be prepared to eat himself were he comprised of the…

Nick Doody

5 Things you might not know about - Nick Doody

24 Apr 2008

Nick Doody’s debut Fringe show in 2006, Before He Kills Again, kicked off with a disturbing song about clowns. So disturbing that the imagery cannot be repeated in a family publication. He shares a house with fellow stand-up Matt Kirshen. Noam Chomsky…

David Kay

David Kay

24 Apr 2008

Some have compared this special Kay to American deadpan surrealist Steven Wright and if that isn’t enough to have you trotting along to The Stand, we’re not sure what will, as the self-proclaimed ‘fireball of Scottish comedy’ entertains you. The…

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

(2 stars)24 Apr 2008

ROMANCE/COMEDY (15) 110min The Judd Apatow movie production line shows no signs of abating as Forgetting Sarah Marshall follows the template of Knocked Up to deliver some laughs, banal moralising and side characters that outshine the lead. Writer and…

Made of Honour

Made of Honour

(2 stars)24 Apr 2008

ROMANTIC COMEDY (12A) 101min Tom (former teen heartthrob Patrick Dempsey) is a wealthy New York City playboy. Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) is Tom’s best friend and the single constant female companion in the life of a serial shagger. But when Hannah is…

Midnight Talks

Midnight Talks

24 Apr 2008

Thirty-something Matylda (Magdalena Rózczka) decides she cannot waste any more time before having a baby and duly advertises for a sperm donor. When Bartek (Marcin Dorocinski) arrives on her doorstep she realises she may have bitten off more than she…

Three and Out

Three and Out

(2 stars)24 Apr 2008

COMEDY (15) 106min Heard the one about the suicidal 50-something Irishman Tommy (Colm Meaney) and the London tube driver and aspiring novelist Paul (Mackenzie Crook), who needs somebody to throw themselves under his train in order to collect a…

The Mighty Boosh launch their own festival

18 Apr 2008

Noel Fielding and Julian Barrett, the comedy duo otherwise known as The Mighty Boosh, are to launch their own festival, it was reported today. Billed as 'a day in the country' which they will 'drag a load of friends and comedians and bands' along to…

Rab C Nesbitt to return for Christmas?

15 Apr 2008

Ian Pattison, creator of television's Glaswegian street philosopher Rab C Nesbitt, has written a new script for a Christmas special of the show. The show's original producer and director Colin Gilbert said, 'The likelihood is, that, unless they…

Fears expressed over Fringe comedy festival breakaway plans

15 Apr 2008

If.comedy award producer Nica Burns has warned against breakaway plans by four of the Edinburgh Fringe's main venues. Following recent news that the Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Underbelly and Pleasance venues plan to promote their own Edinburgh Comedy…

Glasgow Subway Festival

Glasgow Subway Festival

10 Apr 2008

The weather might, finally, be on the upswing, but underground at the Clockwork Orange they’re praying for rain. The first ever Glasgow Subway festival is set to launch on Thursday 10 April, with a packed out programme of events, underground in the…

In Bruges

In Bruges

(4 stars)10 Apr 2008

CRIME/COMEDY (18) 107min A pair of mismatched professional hitmen are sent to the picturesque titular Belgian city to lie low after a job in London goes wrong. There, young philistine Ray (Colin Farrell) and older, cultured Ken (Brendan Gleeson) argue…

Pam Ann

Pam Ann

10 Apr 2008

CHARACTER COMEDY King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Sun 13 Apr Catching up with the jet-setting alter ego of bitchy flight attendant Pam Ann, it soon becomes apparent that she has other things on her mind to do with Glasgow rather than the opening of her brand…

Ken Dodd

5 Things you might not know about - Ken Dodd

10 Apr 2008

Somewhat eccentric from his early years, he often walked backwards all the way from school to his home simply to prove that it could be done. When he tried this feat of nonsense while on his bicycle, it proved to be less successful. Legend has it that…

Leatherheads

Also Released - Film

10 Apr 2008

Leatherheads (PG) 113min •• Directed by and starring George Clooney, Leatherheads is a wannabe Preston Sturges-style romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the burgeoning American football league in 1925. Dodge Connolly (Clooney) is a cocky but…

Botched

Botched

(2 stars)10 Apr 2008

COMEDY/CRIME/HORROR (15) 94min If characters explode like tomatoes in microwaves, you’re probably witnessing the continuing rise of British splat-core comedy horror that’s had as many hits (Shaun of the Dead, Severance) as misses (The Cottage), the…

Strange Wilderness

Strange Wilderness

(2 stars)10 Apr 2008

COMEDY (15) 84min Dude, where’s my countryside? From Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison company, Strange Wilderness is another stoner-meets-nature comedy from director Fred Wolf, writer of the similarly low-rent male-bonding opus Without a Paddle. Peter…

Vegas Baby

Vegas Baby

(1 star)10 Apr 2008

COMEDY (15) 86min (Momentum DVD rental/retail) One of the problems with Eric Bernt’s wannabe lad comedy is that there’s a twist in the tale that even the planners for Heathrow Terminal 5 could spot in advance. But it’s not the only problem. There…

Garth Jennings directs Son of Rambow

Garth Jennings - Son of Rambow

27 Mar 2008

‘Would you like a slice of sponge cake with your cup of tea?’ Garth Jennings says amiably. ‘I made it this morning. Not sure if it’s any good, mind.’ A warm welcome aboard his floating studio, housed on a barge on a canal in north London, this may…

Comedy Central Collection

Comedy Central Collection

27 Mar 2008

DVD/CD (Comedy Central) For anyone who thinks that American stand-up comedy means Bill Hicks, Chris Rock and Joan Rivers, those wonderful people at Comedy Central are setting out to put you straight. A new set of DVDs and CDs should thrust you out of…

I'm Sorry I Haven't Got A Clue

5 Things you might not know about - I'm Sorry I Haven't Got A Clue

27 Mar 2008

1 Humphrey Lyttelton had a top 20 hit in the 1950s with ‘Bad Penny Blues’ and played on Radiohead’s ‘Life in a Glasshouse’. The Humph appeared on Desert Island Discs in 2006. 2 Tim Brooke-Taylor’s grandfather was a parson who played centre-forward…

27 Dresses

27 Dresses

(1 star)27 Mar 2008

COMEDY/ROMANCE (12A) 110min During an interview to promote Knocked Up, actress Katherine Heigl said of the Judd Apatow comedy that brought her worldwide fame (after her years lighting up Grey’s Anatomy): ‘It paints women as shrews, as humourless and…

First Sunday

First Sunday

(1 star)27 Mar 2008

CRIME/COMEDY (12A) 97min When trousers fall down to reveal brightly-coloured underwear, any comedy is instantly revealed as low-brow, yet this vehicle for ex-rapper Ice Cube written, directed and produced by his old promo director friend David E…

You, the Living

You, the Living

(3 stars)27 Mar 2008

COMEDY/DRAMA (15) 93min In an unnamed Nordic city a moustachioed tuba-player starts talking about savings and pensions, while making love to his wife who is wearing a military helmet. A dog is dragged along a pavement, attached to the walker of its…

Edinburgh’s Big Four Venues Announce ‘the Largest Comedy Festival in the World’

21 Mar 2008

Four of the biggest Fringe venues have announced their plans to band together to launch the ‘largest comedy festival in the world’ this August. Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly yesterday announced their intention to launch the…

Steve Coogan comes back to do stand up in Scotland

14 Mar 2008

Steve Coogan, the British comedy actor behind such characters as Alan Partidge, Paul Calf and Saxondale will play a pair of live shows at Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow on 3 and 4 December. The show entitled: Steve Coogan is Alan Partidge and other Less…

Stewart Lee

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Stewart Lee

13 Mar 2008

When a stand-up is dubbed ‘a comics’ comic’, that can usually be translated into: ‘loved by his peers and critics; not quite so loved by audiences.’ Yet, when you look at the career of Stewart Lee, the adulation of comedians and journalists may have…

French & Saunders

5 Things you might not know about - French & Saunders

13 Mar 2008

When Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders first met in 1977 at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama, they didn’t exactly hit it off. Saunders believed French was a ‘cocky upstart’ while Dawn thought Jen was ‘snooty and aloof’. French is credited…

Chewin' the Fat

BBC Scotland seeks comedy talent

13 Mar 2008

BBC Radio Scotland is offering potential funnymen/women the opportunity to send in their best gags in the form of sketches, sitcoms or comedy dramas. So, if you think you could be the next Ford Kiernan, Fred MacAulay or Karen Dunbar, send your…

Harmony Korine

Harmony Korine

13 Mar 2008

Harmony Korine was thrust into the limelight aged 22, when his sensational script for Kids garnered him the status of overnight sensation. Then came Gummo, a film made in the best traditions of German maverick Werner Herzog, which established the young…

Jon Richardson

Jon Richardson

13 Mar 2008

STAND-UP Brel, Glasgow, Sun 16 Mar Watching Jon Richardson disparage Rab C Nesbitt and spectacularly misjudge a Scottish audience remains one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen: ‘they got quite angry’ he recalls. But he was careful not to repeat it…

Les Patterson Saves The World

Les Patterson Saves The World

(2 stars)13 Mar 2008

COMEDY (15) 85min (Arrow DVD retail) Strewth! When an unfortunate incident involving fart-burning at the UN sees Sir Les Patterson ignite Mustafa Toul, dictator of an oil rich middle eastern state, our hero is sent there to make amends. From there he…

Meet the Spartans

Meet the Spartans

(2 stars)13 Mar 2008

COMEDY (12A) 83min Date Movie and Epic Movie were unforgivable atrocities against comedy, but writer/directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer manage to deal themselves a slightly stronger hand with their latest effort Meet the Spartans, which sets…

The Boss Of It All

The Boss Of It All

(3 stars)13 Mar 2008

COMEDY (15) 99min Taking a break from vituperative deconstructions of US history, the ever playful Danish director, writer and producer Lars Von Trier brings us a comedy shot in Automavision, a process whereby the director chooses a fixed camera…

The Cottage

The Cottage

(2 stars)13 Mar 2008

COMEDY/HORROR (18) 91min The art of the horror comedy is in juxtaposing terror with humour until both are intensified into hysteria. Good examples of the genre include John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 and Wes…

Omid Djalili

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Omid Djalili

28 Feb 2008

There are a few things guaranteed about an Omid Djalili show. There’ll be spot-on regional accents, plentiful jokes about his Iranian roots, a slap or two in the pug ugly face of British bigotry and, the pièce de résistance, an energetic slab of…

Semi-Pro

Semi-Pro

(4 stars)28 Feb 2008

COMEDY (15) 91min Will Ferrell raises his game with this typically energetic and supremely daft ‘frat pack’ comedy that also boasts a surprising winning streak in its semi-serious celebration of the now defunct American Basketball Association. With…

Fat Tongue

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Fat Tongue

28 Feb 2008

Never mind creating characters, pulling off original set-ups and delivering a fine punchline, the toughest thing about being in a sketch show group must be finding a decent name. You can easily picture individuals sitting for hours in a smoke-filled…

Barry & Stuart

Barry & Stuart

28 Feb 2008

Some magicians spend their lives trying to convince us that they can walk on water. Metaphorically speaking. With London-based, Aberdeenshire-raised double act Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod, there’s one thing you should know: they actually can walk on…

Bethany Black

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Lesbian comedians

28 Feb 2008

Stand-up comedy has always provided a platform for historically oppressed minorities. From the self-deprecatory Borscht belt humour of Mel Brooks and Rodney Dangerfield through Richard Pryor’s fearless exploration of racism to the feminist material of…

Russell Kane

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Russell Kane

28 Feb 2008

Since the age of eight he has written short stories but has never been published ‘The one creative constant I’ve always had is to write fiction. I read that you should get your rejection slips and decorate your room with them. I literally ended up…

Janey Godley

Janey Godley

28 Feb 2008

STAND-UP Jongleurs, Glasgow, Thu 28 Mar; The Garage, Glasgow, Thu 6 Mar; Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 9 Mar ‘I read an article about Josie Long and Kristen Schaal saying, “Isn’t it lovely that female comedians are returning to being quirky and nice?”…

Margot at the Wedding

Margot at the Wedding

(2 stars)28 Feb 2008

DRAMA/COMEDY (15) 92min Writer/director Noah Baumbach starts proceedings on his latest feature with a block capital title caption, forewarning the audience that his latest offering pays homage to the French New Wave, in particular the work of Francois…

The Game Plan

The Game Plan

(3 stars)28 Feb 2008

FAMILY/COMEDY (U) 110min ‘Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?’ Although wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson doesn’t get to use his trademark catchphrase in Disney family-values comedy The Game Plan, his charismatic presence turns some…

Frank Sidebottom

5 Things you might not know about - Frank Sidebottom

28 Feb 2008

1 The man behind the big-headed Manc is one Chris Sievey. Frank was initially created to be a fan of Sievey’s group The Freshies, but he became so popular that Sievey soon focused his artistic energies on Sidebottom. 2 Among those who played with…

Jo Caulfield

Jo Caulfield

14 Feb 2008

STAND-UP The Stand, Glasgow, Thu 14–Sat 16 Feb Jo Caulfield knows that it’s good to let off some steam now and again. On her website, she allows her fans to rant on her Angry and Annoyed page. Among the more recent complaints was the woman who gets…

5 Things you might not know about - Des Clarke

5 Things you might not know about - Des Clarke

14 Feb 2008

1 In 2000 at the tender age of 19, Des Clarke was runner-up in the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny awards. The victor was one Drew Rokos. He’s Australian. That’s all we know about him. 2 His first major TV exposure was on ITV’s Saturday…

The Bucket List

The Bucket List

(2 stars)14 Feb 2008

COMEDY/ADVENTURE (12A) 96min After four decades as one of cinema’s most personable superstars, Jack Nicholson deserves the extended curtain call he gets in The Bucket List, even if it is sentimental, mawkish and manipulative. Ideally cast as filthy…

Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind

(3 stars)14 Feb 2008

COMEDY (12A) 100min Michel Gondry’s freewheeling satire on copyright law features a frustrated filmmaker Mike (Mos Def), who works in a VHS-only video store in an apartment block due for demolition. When his dad (Danny Glover) is out of town finding…

Tim Minchin

Tim Minchin

31 Jan 2008

Considering the few acts who are able to pull it off without being greeted by a sea of groaning, musical comedy must surely be one of the most difficult cross-pollinations in the arts. There’s Bill Bailey, Flight of the Conchords and, erm, well that’s…

Penelope

Penelope

(U) 89min

(4 stars)31 Jan 2008

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away from self-conscious satire, there lived a girl named Penelope (Christina Ricci). With her moneyed background, good sense of humour and French language skills, Penelope should be a bit of a catch. Sadly, Penelope…

Henry Rollins

Henry Rollins

31 Jan 2008

1 An introspective skinny lad at school who feared he would be humiliated on the sports field, Henry Lawrence Garfield tore into literature with relish. Charles Dickens, John Steinbeck and Dylan Thomas were among his early influences. Maybe…

Juno

Juno

(12A) 96min

31 Jan 2008

This year’s Little Miss Sunshine style sleeper hit – Jason Reitman’s feelgood comedy about teenage pregnancy – owes its appeal to the performance of Ellen Page in the leading role. With the circumstances of the conception quickly glossed over with a…

Kenny

Kenny - DVD review

Spoof documentary

(2 stars)31 Jan 2008

When a film comes billed as ‘one of Australia’s best ever comedies’, it’s difficult to know whether to be excited or petrified. From a nation who has given us the rank hospital sitcom Let the Blood Run Free and the gruesomely overrated Kath and Kim…

Les Visiteurs

Les Visiteurs - DVD review

Comedy

(3 stars)31 Jan 2008

As the film which famously out-grossed Jurassic Park in France on its homeland release in 1993, the original Les Visiteurs holds a special place in the hearts of Francophile cinemagoers. It’s really just a reasonably fun slapstick comedy of the sort…

Pete Firman

Pete Firman

17 Jan 2008

MAGIC The Pleasance Cabaret Bar, Edinburgh, Tue 29 Jan Can you actually imagine anything less appealing in the theatrical sphere than a magic act? All that showing off with handkerchiefs and bunny rabbits and saws and tasselled ladies is simply…

Eagle Vs Shark

Eagle Vs Shark

(4 stars)17 Jan 2008

COMEDY (15) 84min (Optimum DVD rental/retail) With its sweet soul and crumbly heart, you’d think that Eagle vs Shark would only be fit for shooting out of the sky or being drowned at birth. But in the hands of writer/director Taika Waititi and…

Slacker

Slacker

(4 stars)17 Jan 2008

COMEDY/DRAMA (15) 93min (Metrodome rental/retail) Originally released in 1991, Richard Linklater’s fine low-budget second feature may bring to mind one of contemporary cinema’s most over-used storytelling devices: the multiple character tale. But…

Sydney White

Sydney White

(2 stars)17 Jan 2008

COMEDY/ROMANCE (12A) 107min Ever since Amy Heckerling’s Clueless loosely adapted Jane Austen’s Emma to a modern High School setting it’s been the done thing to drop classic texts into a contemporary teenage setting. Joe Nussbaum’s Sydney White…

The Good Night

The Good Night

(1 star)17 Jan 2008

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE (15) 93min Not above cashing-in on family connections, writer/director Jake Paltrow’s romantic comedy casts his older sister Gwyneth as the dowdy, disaffected partner of commercial jingle writer Gary (Martin Freeman). A kind…

Matt Kirshen

Matt Kirshen

4 Jan 2008

STAND-UP Jongleurs, Glasgow, Fri 4 & Sat 5 Jan Reality TV has created many a pointless monster but it’s also attracted the already talented to show us what they’re made of. If you say ‘British comedian’ to the average American (whatever that may…

Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach

Moving Wallpaper/Echo Beach

(4 stars)4 Jan 2008

COMEDY/SOAP ITV1, Thu 10 Jan, 9pm OK, I’m confused now. Having checked and then double checked the TV schedules, it appears to be true; Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach are on ITV1. Yes, ITV1. They’re the people who last year washed us away on a sea…

Dave Ward

Profile - Dave Ward

4 Jan 2008

Who’s he then? A self-confessed fibber, Dave Ward has gone through quite a few career shifts. He’s been a professional golfer and a waiter at a celebrity hang-out, before spending a period of time behind bars due to his extreme gambling addictions. At…

PS I Love You

PS I Love You

(1 star)4 Jan 2008

COMEDY/ROMANCE (12A) 126min As the well-connected daughter of the current Taoiseach, author Cecilia Ahern could surely have pulled a few strings to ensure her novel PS I Love You avoided the abhorrent adaptation offered here by…

The Twelve Chairs

The Twelve Chairs

(3 stars)4 Jan 2008

COMEDY DRAMA (12A) 93min (Network DVD rental/retail) When Hipolito (Enriqye Saniesteban) hears that his dying mother-in-law has left a fortune in jewels stashed away in one of her dozen imported chairs, he determines to find the missing fortune.

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

(2 stars)4 Jan 2008

COMEDY (PG) 76min (Optimum retail) Despite insisting in the intro to his 1966 directorial debut (of sorts) that Gone With the Wind used the same strategy, this was the first film to remove the dialogue of one movie and dub a completely new stream of…

Extras

Extras

13 Dec 2007

For all his faults (and his stand-up and radio work make them plentiful), Ricky Gervais at least knows when a TV comedy should bow out. Having clocked off at The Office with 12 episodes and a Christmas special, he has opted for the same strategy with…

Stewart Lee

Review of the year - comedy

13 Dec 2007

Stewart Lee Becoming a father should be a big enough deal in anyone’s year, but British comedy’s bossman also scooped the number 41 slot in Channel 4’s stand-up comic poll. And boy, did he make hay from that, conjuring the Fringe’s comedy highlight in…

Russell Brand

Comedy DVDs

13 Dec 2007

DVD Marcus Brigstocke: Planet Corduroy The Show The erudite satirist rails against the injustices of the world in London’s Shaw Theatre, analysing how tough it must be to live life as a corduroy-loving middle-class white chap. The Extras A stirring…

Elaine C Smith - 5 things you might not know about her

Elaine C Smith - 5 things you might not know about her

13 Dec 2007

1 In 1987, the Baillieston-born actress appeared in the kids show Dramarama in an episode entitled ‘My Mum’s a Courgette.’ 2 Her most recent Beeb appearance was in Jennifer Saunders’ ill-fated Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle. Fortunately, Smith…

Balls of Fury

Balls of Fury

Comedy

(3 stars)13 Dec 2007

The prospect of a comedy about table tennis isn’t a particularly exciting one; somewhere over the course of Dodgeball, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory and Hot Rod, the comedic possibilities of idiot sportsmen ran out of puff some time ago. Randy…

Bee Movie

Bee Movie

Animation/comedy

(3 stars)13 Dec 2007

The buzz about Bee Movie is that it’s a cute animated fable for children that also showcases popular comic Jerry Seinfeld, who developed the project with the writers from his titular sitcom. The sting in the tale is that, while vaguely palatable to both…

James Dowdeswell

James Dowdeswell

13 Dec 2007

Whether this country lad will be giving his fuelled Jongleurs audience a taste of his wine-based humour is as yet unclear. If he does, the gathered will be entertained by tales of being brought up as a publican’s son and sampling the humble grape under…

Baggage

Baggage

29 Nov 2007

RADIO Radio 4, Wed 5 Dec, 11.30am With the Grumpy Old Women back doing their grumpy old thing on the nation’s stages, it’s good to hear of another female comic trio who aren’t just wielding rolling pins and frying pans while moaning about the…

You Kill Me

You Kill Me

(4 stars)29 Nov 2007

COMEDY/THRILLER (15) 92min John The Last Seduction Dahl’s latest film is a work of modest ambition that manages to hit just the right notes. The gleefully morbid script, by screenwriting team Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (The Life and…

The Wee Man

Profile - The Wee Man

29 Nov 2007

Who’s he then? Creation of Neil Bratchpiece, smallest comedy member of the not very tall Bratchpiece Family, The Wee Man is a pure wee basturt Burberry fiend whose stage demeanour ranges wildly from quite threatening to really very threatening…

Codename: The Cleaner

Codename: The Cleaner

(2 stars)29 Nov 2007

COMEDY (12A) 84min So-called comedian Cedric the Entertainer should change his name to Cedric the Complete Non-Event on the evidence of this painfully un-entertaining spoof on the Jason Bourne movies. Having directed genuinely unfunny vehicles for…

Fred Claus

Fred Claus

(1 star)29 Nov 2007

FAMILY/COMEDY (PG) 115min In his third film with director David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons, The Wedding Crashers) Vince Vaughn trades far too heavily on his familiar wise-guy charms in this cloying Joel The Matrix Silver-produced Christmas offering.

He Was A Quite Man

He Was A Quiet Man

(3 stars)29 Nov 2007

DRAMA/COMEDY (15) 95min It seems a long time ago that Christian Slater was making a living as the ‘young Jack Nicholson’ in teen yarns Heathers and Pump Up The Volume. In this audacious crime caper, written and directed by Frank A Cappello (No Way…

Southland Tales

Southland Tales

(2 stars)29 Nov 2007

SCI FI/COMEDY/DRAMA (15) 144min Los Angeles, 4 July 2008. Society is on the brink of social, economic and environmental collapse and an action star/boxer, a porn star and a police officer are making a last stand. Writer/director Richard Kelly’s…

The Band’s Visit

The Band’s Visit

29 Nov 2007

Last chance to see Eran Kolirin’s warmly enjoyable comedy about an Egyptian ceremonial police band lost in Israel. Think Brassed Off in the Middle East. GFT, Glasgow & Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 7–Thu 13 Dec.

DVD Roundup

DVD Roundup

15 Nov 2007

‘No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees/No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds!’ That’s how English poet and humourist Thomas Hood chose to describe the month of November. There is some of Hood’s cheeky sense of observation in John Waters: This…

Milton Jones

Milton Jones

15 Nov 2007

STAND-UP The Stand, Glasgow, Mon 19 Nov; The Stand, Edinburgh, Tue 20 Nov For Milton Jones, it must seem like a very long time ago since he was hitting the Edinburgh Fringe heights with a Best Newcomer success in 1996 and a main Perrier Award…

Matt Berry

Profile - Matt Berry

15 Nov 2007

Who’s he then? You may recognise Matt Berry from his role as aristo explorer type Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh or for his parts in Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and the recent second series of The IT Crowd. No, there’s somewhere else . . . Then…

Wristcutters

Wristcutters: A Love Story

(3 stars)15 Nov 2007

There’s a thick-blooded vein of Slavic humour running through Croatian writer-director Goran Dukic’s absurdist purgatorial romantic comedy. Adapted from Israeli writer Etgar Keret’s short story, Kneller’s Happy Campers, Dukic’s feature debut boasts a…

Gavin and Stacey leads comedy nominations

8 Nov 2007

BBC Three series Gavin and Stacey has received seven nominations for this year’s British Comedy Awards. Best TV comedy and best new British TV comedy are among the awards the show is vying for, while star Ruth Jones is up for best TV comedy actress…

Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey

1 Nov 2007

STAND-UP SECC, Glasgow, Wed 7–Fri 9 Nov It seems clear that Bill Bailey has never minded looking somewhat foolish in the pursuit of his chosen career path. Back in the early days when he was a mere West Country boy trying to earn a modest showbusiness…

Death at a Funeral

Death at a Funeral

(3 stars)1 Nov 2007

DRAMA/COMEDY (15) 90min Having reportedly had his hands burned by the studios, who demanded re-shoots and re-cuts to what turned out to be a risible remake of The Stepford Wives, director Frank Oz (Mr Muppets to you and me) turns his not untalented…

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