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A Guide To Edinburgh 2015

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That time of year is upon us once more; thousands of performers, reviewers and audience members are preparing to visit the holy grail of comedy that is the Edinburgh Festival. Here is a quick run through of everything MoodyComedy would be attending if only I could get there this year. Do get in touch if you attend any of these shows, or see something else that you think should be featured. You can also catch up with the past week’s exclusive MoodyComedy interviews.

Stuff That’s Gold

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Katherine Ryan

Katherine Ryan is performing her latest show, Kathbum, currently riding high on her phenomenal rise to fame in recent years and showing no signs of stopping any time soon. With every new show, Katherine only increases in her wisdom, experience and cutting sass, similar to that of Irish charmer Aisling Bea who brings her second show, Plan Bea, to the festival. Another name to watch out for is that of Luisa Omielan, who will perform a very limited run of her second show Am I Right Ladies?!. Omielan is a performer that cares about her audience to an extent I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed before: her show is empowering, lively and not to be missed.

James Acaster presents another whacky hour of surreal yet surprisingly dramatic story-telling stand up in his show Represent and Joe Lycett returns, with possibly the best show title of the year: That’s The Way, A-Ha A-Ha, Joe Lycett. And it would frankly be a mistake to miss out on seeing Bridget Christie‘s latest show, A Book For Her, which sees the launch of her debut novel, and showcases her trademark blend of feminism and spectacular comedy.

Stuff That’s Odd

Tony Law, the king of surreal comedy, is performing his new show Frillemorphesis where he explores ideas such as shouting, moving and talking, absolutely standard. A live show from the Tone Zone is an opportunity not to be missed, or forgotten in a hurry, and his being in this category is by no means a suggestion that this show will not also be Gold.

Shouty extraordinaire Bobby Mair brings another dark and bitterly funny show off the back of his recent television successes, entitled Filthy Immigrant; Tom Allen performs Both Worlds with his signature sinister calm and endearing flamboyance and Harriet Kemsley, who spent the first part of this year supporting Katherine Ryan on tour, also performs her debut hour, Puppy Fat, which has got the critics excited. If you like a bit of audience interaction, Jonny Awsum’s show Everything Is Awsum will be another unforgettable experience, as will Patrick Monahan’s seventies-inspired show The Disco Years.

Stuff That’s Free

Now any Edinburgh Festival-goer will be able to tell you that ticket price does not necessarily dictate quality; free shows are on the rise as they are a great way of ensuring the trip is more affordable for comedians and fans alike. There are some real gems performing shows this year that rely on kind donations alone.

lou

Lou Sanders

Rob Auton has prepared another delightfully off-kilter, poetical concept show entitled The Water Show where he considers everything surrounding the theme of water, much like his previous shows which have centred around themes such as Yellow, Sky and Face. Elf Lyons‘ Being Barbarella is a high-octane adventure, discussing science fiction, liberation and sharks. This lady is a true one-off, who’s surreal form of comedy is often likened to The Mighty Boosh. And Lou Sanders, being the wonderful shambles of a performer that she is, brings her insane show about her efforts to get accepted into Eton College For Boys, of course entitled: Excuse Me, You’re Sitting On My Penis Again.

Stuart Goldsmith will also be recording episodes of The Comedian’s Comedian Podcast where he interviews everyone that is anyone in the world of comedy, delving deep into the psyche of the performer and having many laughs in the process. The line up for this year is stellar and although the recordings are free to attend and non-ticketed, the venue will undoubtedly fill up quickly on the night so plan ahead.

You can purchase tickets for all shows mentioned on the Edinburgh Festival website.

READ EDINBURGH PREVIEWS HERE

An Open Letter To Buzzcocks

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Dear Buzzcocks,

It was a surprise to hear that one of my favourite television shows had suddenly been axed last week, and though something tells me that we haven’t heard the last from you, I wanted to send you a fond farewell, just incase.

Thank you Buzzcocks for showcasing new talent from the worlds of comedy and music, to name just two, and for supporting artistic intuition in the young, the old, and everyone in between. Thanks for stressing the importance of music in our society over the last eighteen years, and for recognising the relevance of all its forms, from the works of Adam Ant to One Direction, from Scissor Sisters to Dido. You demonstrated how music does, quite literally in this sense, bring people from all different cultures, backgrounds and lifestyles together under one roof, evident in the diverse array of panellists, line up guests and hosts over the years. And yes, thanks even for the hissy fits, the bitchy comments, the storm outs, the smashed mugs. They made for honest, if almost-guilty, entertainment and showed the true effects of throwing so many big personalities together.

Thanks for giving Noel Fielding a platform to show off his interesting sense of style, particularly the time he wore a dress with the clown from It pictured on it, where he was able to protest against Stacey Solomon’s accidental gender stereotyping. For the height difference between Tinchy Stryder and Greg Davies; for Richard Ayoade’s deadpan reading of the autocue; for Adam Buxton’s YouTube comments (or sutin). For Simon Amstell’s cushion; for Dragons Den’s Peter Jones’ pronunciation of ‘N-Dubz’ and for Paul Foot’s energetic interpretation of a traditional Ghanaian dance. And lest I forget that beautiful group rendition of Summer Nights.

From those with bold personalities like Paloma Faith and Russell Brand to the ones who shocked us with their wit and crudeness such as Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora. From James Acaster’s adaptation of the dance to Saturday Night to Lorraine Kelly’s exploding bra. From Amy Winehouse’s declaration that she’d rather have “cat AIDs” than work with Katie Melua to Tony Law’s vuvuzela and lederhosen. From Alice Cooper’s Elvis Presley anecdotes to Bernard Cribbins’ tips regarding how to kill Coldplay’s Chris Martin. From Hughes to Bailey to Fielding. From Lamarr to Amstell to Gilbert. For Phill Jupitus, who only missed one episode out of 262. And for Rhod Gilbert, who so excellently hosted the last series but is unfortunately prevented from continuing due to the show’s cancellation.

It is a regret of mine that I never managed to attend a recording, particularly as I was once invited but couldn’t make it. But I have seen the joys your show has brought to those I know who were lucky enough to see the show live, from those who returned home with a signed watermelon, to the comedians that I consider to be friends who have had helpful career boosts from featuring on the programme in recent years (and rightly so). I think a lot of us owe something to this show. It aided the countdown to Christmas each year and filled the hours, if nothing else. And there were many hours.

So thank you, Buzzcocks. We had fun. I hope to see you again soon.

From Becca (and the rest of us).

This Year In Comedy, Part 2

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2014 was the year that truly proved that the British comedy scene is an exciting place to be. But with all things in life, there have been ups and downs and the industry has lost some of its brightest talents this year.

Two of these, for myself in particular, hurt the most. Star of The Young Ones, Rik Mayall passed away suddenly on June 9th, as a result of a heart attack after his morning run. The news was a shock to everyone, especially as Rik was only 56. Rik Mayall was a shining light in the world of comedy: he was kind, clever, and never afraid to act like a fool. He didn’t take himself too seriously and managed to bring out the inner child in all who watched his hilarious on-screen performances. Television suffered a great loss when Mayall died this year, particularly as he was due to be recording a second series of the magnificently funny Man Down (starring Greg Davies, Roisin Conaty and Mike Wozniak) that summer.

Rik Mayall

Rik Mayall

Two months later, the beloved Robin Williams, who will always have a special place in my heart as Mrs Doubtfire, tragically died on August 11th after a long period of severe depression. The world was silenced to hear this, especially, I gather, people currently working as comics who had worked with him or been inspired by him when they were young.

Every generation knew Robin Williams. His acting credits are endless, including Mork and Mindy, Mrs Doubtfire and Flubber to name a few, as well as being an iconic stand up comedian. The story of what happened is heartbreaking, but at least something positive came out of it: in the days that passed after the world received the news, people slowly started tweeting, blogging and, most importantly, talking about depression. Robin Williams taught the world that mental illness is all around us, even in the places where you might not expect to find it, and his legacy as a fantastic actor and comedian will stay with us all for decades to come.

Robin Williams

Robin Williams

2014 brought about the natural end to various loved sitcoms. The seventh, and final, series of Not Going Out was broadcast throughout October, November and December, with the final ever episode airing on Christmas Eve. As well as this, Miranda Hart announced that the final episodes of her playfully childish television hit Miranda were to be aired on Christmas and New Year’s Day, after having spanned three series.

As if this year hadn’t had its fair share of controversies, Vine celebrity, Dapper Laughs (Daniel O’Reilly) dug himself a hole when his awful and misogynistic television show On The Pull was aired on ITV in October. The “comedian” had been previously criticised for his comments regarding women and his horrendous rape “jokes” so it was no surprise that an online petition was launched to get Dapper Laughs off of our television screens. When this petition was successful, some complained that it was a denial of free speech and a dangerous act of censorship, but quite frankly, I think the danger came from the way O’Reilly fed and encouraged rape culture through his own stupidity; in my eyes, he committed a crime. But no fear, he will, of course, be back in 2015, so he wasn’t really sorry at all.

To end on a positive note, however, for the first time in five years, Never Mind The Buzzcocks has found a permanent host in the incredible funny Rhod Gilbert. Rhod is absolutely brilliant at hosting the programme; he is eloquent, witty and sarcastic and has already been successful in developing a comfortable and, most importantly, funny atmosphere.

2014 has been a year of many surprises, some good and some bad. I hope 2015 is equally as interesting and even more funny. Happy New Year!

READ PART ONE OF MY YEAR ROUNDUP HERE.

This Year In Comedy, Part 1

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2014 has been a massive year for comedy in Britain;

There have been countless brand new television programmes broadcast this year, with some of my favourites including Uncle, House of Fools, Doll & Em, The Walshes, Inside No.9, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled and Siblings. In this sense, 2014 has certainly proven itself to be twelve months of creativity and innovation in comedy, which will pave the way for televised comedy in the future.

As well as new projects, there have been many top-quality programmes that returned to our screens this year. Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy: Tales From Painted Hawaii was a special one for me, as Noel Fielding is my comedy hero, and considering the fact that the first series was broadcast all the way back in January 2012. Ricky Gervais’ Derek, Toast of London (Matt Berry) and Big School (David Walliams and Catherine Tate) returned for a second series and the brilliantly funny Friday Night Dinner came back with a third.

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy

Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy

At the beginning of the year, the BBC announced that they were to make a conscious effort to include at least one woman on every episode of every panel show broadcast by the corporation, and it inspired me to write this post. It’s fair to say that to begin with, I was disheartened. I felt embarrassed that female comedians were being made to look like poor little lambs that can’t fend for themselves as it is absolute nonsense. However, the situation improved later on in the year (which I also documented here) as the thirteenth series of Mock The Week aired and so many talented female comics were given the screen time they deserve. It is my hope from here on in that people forget about the publicised rule and appreciate that these women have earned their right to be on these programmes, and acknowledge their immense talent.

Another shock announcement was that there are plans for the channel BBC3 to be axed in order to fund other projects within the BBC. Amongst other things, the broadcaster wants to create a BBC1+1 which seems pointless as we already have iPlayer, and the decision has, understandably, not been well received. We are told that when BBC3 disappears from our TV screens, it will still be available via BBC iPlayer. Maybe we are just reluctant to give in to the age of the computers, but it definitely feels like the space for new comedy on television is being made smaller by moving its main platform online. “We know those +1 channels are very important to people”, well, Mr Cohen, so is our comedy.

Winner of this year's Fosters Comedy Award: John Kearns

Winner of this year’s Fosters Comedy Award: John Kearns

The Edinburgh Festival this year saw a new winner of the Fosters Comedy Award crowned. John Kearns’ show Shtick is the first Free Fringe show to have ever won the award. There have also been some HUGE live comedy tours this year from the likes of Russell Howard, Miranda Hart, Sarah Millican and Noel Fielding, as well as the return of Monty Python for five nights of nostalgic silliness at the O2 Arena.

COME BACK NEXT WEEK TO READ PART TWO OF THIS YEAR IN COMEDY

The British Comedy Awards 2014

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2014 has been a fantastic year for British Comedy, and The British Comedy Awards exists to showcase a large proportion of that to the public.

Last year’s post about the British Comedy Awards ceremony was largely negative, as a result of the production rather than the comedy being nominated and awarded. The show was aired live, which meant that mistakes could not be hidden and the timing issues were obvious, with some speeches having to be cut short which seemed outrageous. This year, however, the programme aired on Channel 4 on December 17th, rather than live, on December 16th, which meant the whole affair appeared far more professional and respectable, if a little fake, to the television audience.

It was a delight to see the wonderful Harry Enfield receive three awards (individually for Best TV Comedy Actor and teamed with Paul Whitehouse (Harry & Paul) for Best Sketch Show and Best Comedy Moment). Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) also won Best TV Comedy Actress, which I think is incredibly well-deserved and so endearing to see how shocked she was to be recognised. Matt Berry was nominated for a whopping six awards, though he lost to Nick Helm for Best Comedy Breakthrough Artist, which is just as it should be seeing as Berry has been a television comic for over a decade. I’m a big fan of Berry’s Toast of London; it was great to see such a strange style of sitcom win an award for once.

The person I was most pleased to see win an award was certainly Aisling Bea, who won Best Female TV Comic. Seeing this absolute ray of sunshine crawl onto stage in her dress and heels and inadvertently turn herself into a “hospital DJ,” made me laugh so much and just proved that Aisling is a funny woman through and through. I am unbelievably pleased for her and can’t wait to see what this award does for her career in the coming year. Another beautiful moment was hearing an emotional speech from Brendan O’Carroll (Mrs Brown’s Boys), who was rightly awarded with the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award.

It’s easy to be cynical whilst watching such a grandiose display of wealth and status, and there were times throughout the production where I did feel like the spirit of British Comedy was being exploited, but, unlike Stewart Lee, I chose to ignore that this year. From the position of a viewer rather than a performer, I can see that The British Comedy Awards gives comics a platform to boost their careers or give them recognition for their lifetime achievements, and that can only be a good thing in my opinion, however unfair you believe the results to be. Out of the nominees for King or Queen of Comedy, however, Greg Davies will always win in the end.

I think my favourite part of the whole affair was hearing Tulisa say “I’m a big comedy fan.” Yes, that part made me laugh the most.

A Birthday

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Today marks one year since I first decided to start a blog about comedy. It’s unbelievable how quickly this first year has flown by and how many brilliant opportunities have come from that one decision last October and though I wouldn’t normally have thought to write a post of this nature, I am doing so because I am honestly quite shocked at how much I have managed to achieve in one year. When I first began writing about comedy on the internet, I could never have predicted that Moody Comedy would become such a big part of my life; one that I am proud of and eager to share with anyone and everyone.

The past twelve months for me have involved seeing some incredible shows from Rob Beckett, Lloyd Griffith, Paul Foot, Tony Law, Joe Lycett, Sara Pascoe, John Robins and Bridget Christie as well as having a few more exciting potential trips planned for the near future. I have continued to collect autographs, most recently from Aisling Bea, Rhys Darby (of Flight of the Conchords), Richard Herring and a letter from the living legend that is Harry Enfield.

The site has evolved from previous basic reviews and short chatty posts to develop an array of regular, and one-off, features including A Week in the Life, Comedian of the Month, Comedy Catch Up, Top 5 Moments, The Mighty Boosh Revisited, Garth Marenghi Revisited, and, most amazingly, my Seven Questions With feature which has allowed me to interview some fascinating people.

One of the main reasons I set up this site was to be able to express to the creators of the comedy I love how much I admire and appreciate their work. This is why I am very active on Twitter and enjoy encouraging comedians, actors and writers to read what I have said about them and their shows. My favourite correspondences include comments from Graham Linehan, Bob Mortimer and Alan Davies as well as a retweet from the one and only Noel Fielding (which sent my stats into meltdown!).

A Birthday

It has been an absolute pleasure maintaining and expanding Moody Comedy and I have been lucky enough to receive advice, encouragement and publicity from the lovely people at The British Comedy Guide and The Velvet Onion, especially Mark (founder and editor of The British Comedy Guide) and Paul Holmes (editor of The Velvet Onion). It has been brilliant to be able to gain insight into the professions of these interesting and successful people whilst learning the ropes myself.

Considering this website is a purely a hobby of mine and that I am still only sixteen, having just completed my GCSEs and now starting my AS Levels, I’m going to do what I rarely allow myself to do: to tell the world that I have worked bloody hard and that I am proud of it.

I also want to encourage anyone reading, regardless of age, to follow where your interests take you. The world is a busy place and it’s easy to get caught up in just keeping yourself running, rather than trying to achieve something new or something that requires more effort. With a little hard graft, your interests can become your hobbies or even your passions, and who wouldn’t want to do a little more of what they enjoy?

Thank you all so very much for supporting Moody Comedy and myself; it has been a joy writing for you and I can’t wait to see where another year may take us.

TV Review: Mock The Week, Series 13

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On the 9th of February this year, the BBC made an announcement that lead me to write this post because it made me feel so disheartened. The announcement concerned the number of female comedians that are present on panel shows broadcast by the BBC and proposed that all new episodes of programmes like Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You and QI will have at least one woman each. The statement given by Danny Cohen, Director of Television at the BBC, that contained the proposal, was not taken well by comedians and the general public alike. As I explained in my post at the time, this was mainly because of the patronising nature of the new rule and I worried immensely about the effect this will have on female comedians and their audiences.

It is now five months later and the first half of Mock The Week series thirteen has been and gone. As promised, there has been one female comic on each of the six episodes so far and, as a result, I personally think it’s been one of the best series yet. This is because many wonderful comedians have been given the chance to appear on the show where they may not have been able to before, and many of them have been women. Now, I completely stand by the concerns I expressed in my previous post and still fear they are just as valid: I am very uncomfortable with the idea of a ‘token woman’ on such programmes and it’s always going to be an issue because of Cohen’s statement.

However, despite my worries, when I focus purely on the entertainment; when I pretend I don’t know why there are suddenly more women on Mock The Week, I thoroughly enjoyed the series. It made me incredibly happy to see some of my favourite female comedians make their Mock The Week debut, such as Angela Barnes and Sara Pascoe, and to see the wonderful Katherine Ryan make her fourth appearance on the show (an impressive achievement, looking at the statistics for such a programme). Not only were there many new female faces (also including Susan Calman and Tiff Stevenson), but I was also delighted to see one of my favourite male comedians appear on his second, third, fourth AND fifth episode: the hilarious Romesh Ranganathan.

So there have been six episodes in this half of the series and that means there have been six female comedians who got some screen time who may not have got it otherwise, and this has to be a good thing. I did some research and discovered that series eleven had five different female comedians throughout the whole of the twelve episodes: Jo Caulfield, Zoe Lyons, Ava Vidal, Andi Osho and Katherine Ryan. Likewise, series twelve only showed three on all eleven episodes and they were Ava Vidal, Katherine Ryan and Holly Walsh. Despite the humiliation of the extremely concentrated ‘positive discrimination’ that women (including the public as well as comedians) are being force-fed with, it is undeniable that Mock The Week is a better show because of it, I just wish it hadn’t been done so blatantly, before everyone’s eyes.

In February, I was made to feel embarrassed for being a girl. I felt like female comedians were being held up under a spotlight and examined; pitied. And it made me feel really helpless because if this is the only way for women to get an equal amount of time on panel shows, there is something very wrong with the world. But the effects seem to be wearing off and hopefully many people haven’t even noticed the change, which shows how unnatural it was to have so little female comedians on Mock The Week in the past.

Anyway, I don’t want this to be a negative post because I think the nation’s memory of Danny Cohen’s statement has faded considerably since February and I’d like to hope it stays like that. In general, the changes that have been made to the running of Mock The Week seem to be extremely positive and I hope this signals the start of some kind of panel-show-revolution.

PS. Another thing I noticed was that the female comic was always in the middle chair on Andy Parson’s team and that has intrigued me as I can’t think of a reason for that being so. If anyone can enlighten me as to why, that would be much appreciated.

Save BBC3

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On Wednesday, a large part of the nation was swept up in fury when they heard the rumours that the BBC were planning to axe BBC3. It all developed extremely quickly and now there are people all across the country desperately trying to save the channel. This has been done through articles (like this but actually with an audience), petitions and Twitter trends (#SaveBBC3). We have been assured that all BBC3 shows will still be available online but this offers no comfort to me as there will be thousands of people without internet access who will now miss out altogether.

The reason this is so high-profile is because it is an insanely massive decision and will affect so many of us, including hundreds of well-known celebrities who’s work relies on broadcasts from BBC3. Some of the biggest names to speak out about it this week include Russell Kane, Jack Whitehall and Greg James.

This was the particular article that inspired me to write. It pointed out that the BBC plans to spend £30 million on Drama and also wants to create a BBC1+1 which seems pointless as we already have iPlayer. When I first heard of the plans, a small part of me thought fair enough, they are on financial difficulty. But they’re not! They just want the £100 million to put back into the other channels and the difference won’t even be that noticeable. What a huge sacrifice for a change that nobody wants. Not to mention that most of this money comes from the nation’s pocket: my parents’ money and one day, my own. So we are paying for something we don’t actually want?

The Mighty Boosh

BBC3 has brought us so many influential and brilliant programmes, from The Mighty Boosh in 2004 and Little Britain in 2003 to last summer’s Mental Health Season: It’s a Mad World. I admit that some other programmes have been less well-received but at least the channel is taking risks. It is the major platform for new comedy in the UK, for example, Uncle was broadcast earlier this year and was brilliant, in my opinion. Other SitComs that the nation loves have been produced by BBC3 like Gavin & Stacey and brought new, young people into the public eye.

If this decision goes ahead, I, as a young person who loves comedy, am going to lose out on so much. The majority of my school are going to be affected also and I know a lot of them are as outraged as I am. Ja’mie: Private School Girl was a massive hit with the older years of my school when BBC3 first broadcast it recently. Most of the people who watched it probably wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been on television as it is easier to access.

Talking in general terms, I feel as though the BBC are completely skipping out the younger generation. BBC1, 2 and 4 often focus on the more serious side of things such as the news and The One Show, history documentaries and programmes about antiques. If you axe the main source of our comedy and innovative documentaries- what do we have left?

I honestly don’t know if we can make a difference but we can’t just sit there and let them take away our favourite channel. Please sign this petition to show the BBC that actually, we will not let them disregard us so absentmindedly. Sharing this blogpost would also be a massive help, we need as much support as we can get- surely the BBC can’t ignore so many people?

No More All-Male Panel Shows

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Today the BBC announced they were to make sure every episode of shows like QI and Mock the Week are to have at least one female guest. My first reaction was along the lines of: ‘sure, this is coming from a good place, women should be greater represented in comedy. The idea behind this is a sound one.’ However, I don’t think this is the correct way to go about it in the slightest. Speaking as a young female, I felt embarrassed to hear that women would get such special treatment. From now on, even if it is untrue, every comedienne that is asked to appear on such shows will feel that they are just there to fit the BBC’s new criteria. They are being completely undermined.

mock the week

© BBC

Females comics don’t get half the recognition they deserve and some of the funniest people in the industry I know of are women. For example Katherine Ryan, Sara Pascoe, Dolly Wells, Morgana Robinson, Roisin Conaty, Sarah Millican and Aisling Bea, are amongst some of my favourites. I think women add a valuable new dimension to such panel shows. They make it interesting. So seeing my favourite comediennes on television is always a highlight for me as like most people, they have earned their place on the panel. Years of hard work goes in before people come anywhere near to performing on programmes like Mock the Week.

It makes me sad to think that the women mentioned above may feel undervalued in the future when invited to appear on BBC panel shows because they deserve to be commended for their hard work. In many cases, they deserve additional recognition purely for the way they have surfaced above the hundreds of male comics in the UK while facing constant discrimination along the way. How many times have you heard the phrase: ‘she’s funny for a female comic’ or ‘no female comics are ever funny’. These make my blood boil- do they have no idea that humour is not purely in your genetic information? Have they not stopped to consider that intelligence, wit and life experiences might have some influence?