Brian Donaldson
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Scottish festivals 2013 - An A-Z of the best summer festivals
17 May 2013
The best festivals of music, film, food, cycling and more taking place in Scotland 2013
When it comes to festivals, Scotland really doesn’t hold back. From Orkney to Byres Road, muddy fields to stately homes, the growing number of them cater to all tastes, styles and budgets. Our A-Z guide profiles Scotland’s best summer jamborees, the…
Gillian Anderson and Eve Myles return to TV in non-sci-fi roles for The Fall and Frankie
16 May 2013
The stars of The X-Files and Torchwood respectively play a homicide detective and cheery nurse
As a serial killer gently bathes the corpse of a woman he has just strangled, the investigating officer on the murderer’s trail is getting intimate with a burly Belfast cop in her hotel room. It’s not a scene for the faint of heart but The Fall has…
Interview: NYC comedian Judah Friedlander set for 2013 UK dates
15 May 2013
He’s not here to deliver a message. Even if he has a presidential campaign to run
For those familiar with Judah Friedlander from 30 Rock or any number of movies from American Splendor to The Wrestler, you will no doubt picture a slightly doleful-looking dude with much hair, thick glasses and an array of trucker hats. Rather than…
Comedian Helen Arney talks geeks and nerds
15 May 2013
The physics graduate/musical comedian is back with her new dream gig
A quick glance at Helen Arney’s June gig list says everything you need to know about the kind of audience she attracts. Among them are Lab Notes and Call My Genetically Engineered Bluff at the Cheltenham Science Festival, while in Scotland she has two…
Jay Lafferty shares her thoughts on her comedy hero Dylan Moran
15 May 2013
Why Moran's Bernard Black is 'the poster boy for the manchild'
I have always had a thing for dark haired, unshaven, slightly dishevelled gents. I'm a big fan of the sardonic drunk who turns up at parties to roll his eyes and make sardonic quips which is why Dylan Moran is not only my comedy hero but something of an…
Eddie Izzard embarks on 2013 UK tour
15 May 2013
Five things you might not know about the comedian
1. If you happened to be dotting around Edinburgh during August in the early 80s, you may have witnessed Eddie Izzard doing some street performing. In 1991, he was nominated for the Perrier (Frank Skinner won) while his links with the festival now are…
Reginald D Hunter set for 2013 UK tour
15 May 2013
Hitting the trail on the back of fresh controversy
You could say that an extra dollop of spice has been added to Reginald D Hunter’s national tour after a furore that could be described as misguided on almost everyone’s part but the comic himself. When the Professional Footballers Association invited…
TV review: Banshee
29 Apr 2013
Getting through Alan Ball’s new show requires a strong stomach and powerful painkillers
If Six Feet Under was Alan Ball’s attempt to create a Shakespearean family drama set among the funeral parlours of LA, then Banshee (Sky Atlantic, Mon, 10.15pm) might be his attempt at pitching himself for a Bourne writing gig. While Ball may be…
Sheila Rock - Punk +
17 Apr 2013
Superb and powerfully put-together photo-history of punk
Sheila Rock’s superb photo-history of the short-lived but aftershock-long punk scene ends with a series of John Lydon shots. It’s 1980 and punk is indeed dead, the ex-Pistols sneermonger now fully ensconced in his new PiL project. Mooching around in a…
Interview: Bill Bailey talks about his latest show, Qualmpeddler
16 Apr 2013
'It's about reflecting ideas and thoughts that float about in an intangible way'
A press release for a Bill Bailey tour is often more entertaining than some comedians’ entire stage careers. There’s no way that this ‘Swiftian satirist,’ the archetypal hippie materialist and owner of a Dandelion Mind did not have a hand in publicity…
Jo Caulfield presents... The Speakeasy - Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, Tue 9 Apr 2013
16 Apr 2013
This spoken word/comedy evening presents a more easy-going, relaxed alternative to stand-up shows
‘They don’t like this kind of thing on a Friday night at Jongleurs.’ It’s a statement that could apply to just about every act on The Speakeasy bill, but it’s spoken by Andrew Learmonth, a comedian who has just revealed the story of his prematurely-born…
Gary Delaney tells us what it takes to be a one-liner king
16 Apr 2013
'The first joke is on the bedside table and the second joke is on the toilet, and so on'
While in front of a comedy crowd that could turn at any given minute, a stand-up needs to rely on a solid memory to make sure there are no juicy lulls for a heckler to bite into. When that comedian is a one-line/punchline gagmeister, it’s even more…
Ben Verth talks about his comedy hero, Peter Richardson
16 Apr 2013
Edinburgh comic Verth reveres the architect behind The Comic Strip club and TV series
My comedy hero is Peter Richardson. 'Who?' I hear you ask. Richardson was the driving force behind London’s Comic Strip club during the early 80s Alternative Comedy boom, and was the main writer and director of, and actor in, its spin-off TV show, The…
Five things you might not know about Micky Flanagan
16 Apr 2013
The Cockney comic has lived past lives as a fish monger, dish washer and teacher
1 His first full-time job was as a stand boy in Billingsgate fish market where he boiled and measured various types of shellfish, earning the fairly serious sum of £250 a week. He later washed dishes in New York and went into teacher training but was…
Wrestler, author and 'spoken word artist' Mick Foley delivers tales from inside and outside the ring
16 Apr 2013
The former grappler is touring the UK with his latest spoken word tour
For those who remember Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, there are fewer sights sadder in showbusiness than a once-great star trying to reclaim their past and ending up making an utter fool of themselves. Mick Foley made sure that this would not be his…
Review: Mad Mad Series 6 - Don Draper and co return with the stench of death everywhere
10 Apr 2013
Sixth and penultimate series screens Sky Atlantic, Wed 10 Apr, 10pm
Could Mad Men be the most subtle TV drama ever made? While fans of The Sopranos and The Wire tuned in mainly for the bold writing and brilliant characters, there was always the juicy carrot of some rat or business associate being brutally dispatched. As…
Baise-Moi
22 Mar 2013
The low budget, sex and violence-filled movie is available uncut in the UK for the first time
When it comes to splitting opinion straight down the midriff, few films from the last couple of decades have been quite so marmite as Baise-Moi. For some, this low-budget French movie from 2000 was simply a porno with a bit more story than usual. For…
Patrick Ness - The Crane Wife
22 Mar 2013
Haunted novel about stories and the way they change from teller to teller
Known best for his young adult fiction, there’s little surprise that Patrick Ness’ latest book for ‘grown-ups’ leans heavily towards the magical. If you’re familiar with the original Japanese fable, then you’ll immediately recognise the opening scene of…
TV series Boss is a fine addition to More4’s US drama roster
22 Mar 2013
Kelsey Grammer stars in a non-comedic role as the brutish mayor of Chicago
If you think of Kelsey Grammer as either Frasier Crane or Sideshow Bob, it might be tough to accept him as Tom Kane, the brutish mayor of Chicago. There isn’t a single laugh to be had in the opening episode of Boss, unless you have a Lynchian soft spot…
'The fun of it is to be let off the leash' - Harry Hill on his return to stand-up
19 Mar 2013
'There’s a lot of slapstick in it, all this mucking about which tickles me'
For anyone who might think that, surely, at the age of 48, Harry Hill’s stage act will be a little more sophisticated these days will probably want to think again. Sausage Time will feature, unsurprisingly, a 20ft banger, a mattress for the sole purpose…
Tickling Jock
19 Mar 2013
Billy Connolly, Ronnie Corbett and Stanley Baxter feature in this comedic portrait exhibition
It would be thoroughly glaikit for anyone to criticise Tickling Jock for not including much in the way of the modern Scottish comedian. For this is very much a portrait of the way our nation’s funny men and witty women once were: knee-deep in the music…
My Comedy Hero: Diane Spencer on Kathy Griffin
19 Mar 2013
'To watch Kathy continue to perform and write as she does is highly motivating'
Determination, perseverance and the ability to make people laugh through it all: Kathy Griffin is my comedy hero. Every day during the Edinburgh Fringe 2010 (my first solo show at the most overwhelming festival in the world), I watched a section of…
Sketch trio WitTank embark on debut national tour
19 Mar 2013
Naz Osmanoglu, Kieran Boyd and Mark Cooper-Jones to tour the UK
You know the deal with sketch show acts by now. Whether they are on the telly or live on stage, some of it will be good, a piece or two in there might even be great, while other bits will be barely passable. Three stars. Not so the WitTank male trio…
Five character comedians at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival 2013
19 Mar 2013
Anna Morris, Al Murray, Phill Jupitus, John Shuttleworth and Bob Doolally among the GICF highlights
Anna Morris Morris caused a stir on the Free Fringe last August with Dolly Mixture, so let’s hope the Glasgow crowd also take to her vibrant brand of audience participation (that’s you told). Among her crew may well be a nervous stand-up comedian, an…
TV review: Parks and Recreation
1 Mar 2013
Single-camera mockumentary style does this US comedy few favours
There are some who might think that Ricky Gervais has an awful lot to answer for, and of course he does. But maybe we shouldn’t really lay the blame for the rash of recent mockumentary work on TV entirely at his door. Sure, The Office seemed to set a…
