Features

Michael McIntyre: 'I didn't get many laughs at college. I used to just hide in the library on my own'

Will the real Michael McIntyre please stand up?

From out of nowhere, he became Britain's biggest comedy star. But who is Michael McIntyre? And what exactly does he want?

Inside Features

Comic relief: Zadie Smith's passion for British comedy

Friday, 20 November 2009

Once a prodigy of fiction, Zadie Smith has grown into a writer, critic and teacher with an international outlook - and a lasting passion for British comedy. Boyd Tonkin meets her

Can we please stand up for Michael McIntyre?

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Dominic Lawson: Comedy shows based on shocking us carry the seeds of their own destruction

Q. When is a joke not a joke? A. When it's offence

Saturday, 7 November 2009

The nation's stand-ups can barely open their mouths these days without causing outrage. So have they gone too far – or has Britain lost its sense of humour, asks Ian Burrell

Jack Dee: the BBC’s populism is no joke

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

Ian Burrell : Jack Dee has a new series, TV and radio quiz host jobs – and gripes about BBC management

Observations: Adam's Buxton's journey into clip art

Friday, 23 October 2009

It is a new but rapidly evolving niche: talking your way through comic video clips of your own creation, or laughing about the comments made about the visual snippets that you've uploaded on to YouTube.

Nudge, nudge: Eric Idle on 40 years of Monty Python

Sunday, 18 October 2009

'Life of Brian' has been resurrected as something completely different: an oratorio for orchestra, 160 choristers and four of the surviving Pythons. It is, Eric Idle tells Andrew Johnson, very silly indeed

'Every sperm is sacred': Terry Jones' favourite Monty Python sketches

Sunday, 18 October 2009

40 years of Monty Python

Observations: All in the (same) name of comedy

Friday, 16 October 2009

What's in a name? Well, if you're called Thomas or Tom, it seems you're more likely to have funny bones.

Observations: Phil Kay and Beardyman set to improvise at Bristol Jam

Friday, 16 October 2009

The UK's first major festival of improvised performance, Bristol Jam, opens today at Bristol Old Vic. It was the bright idea of the theatre's new artistic and executive directors, Tom Morris and Emma Stenning. Topping the bill is the god of improvised comedy, Phil Kay. "He swore at me as he has been trying to set up a festival of improvised performance for years in Scotland," says Morris.