http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/q-when-is-a-joke-not-a-joke-a-when-its-offence-1816572.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/q-when-is-a-joke-not-a-joke-a-when-its-offence-1816572.html ]]> <p>Who's laughing now? After decades of standing close to the edge, pushing the envelope and tearing down barriers, Britain's comedians find themselves cornered as never before. Once they'd have smirked at criticisms in the right-wing newspapers but that's not so easy now those headlines can prompt a surge of online outrage that can have broadcast executives fearful for their jobs and theatre managers pulling out of contracts.</p> Features Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jack-dee-the-bbcrsquos-populism-is-no-joke-1814131.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jack-dee-the-bbcrsquos-populism-is-no-joke-1814131.html ]]> <p>Dee. That's dee for dour, or dee as in dry and deadpan and, yes, droll. But not dee for dresser. "The snappiest dresser in comedy," Esquire magazine once said of Jack Dee, which is to entirely miss the point behind his act. </p> Profiles Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/observations-adams-buxtons-journey-into-clip-art-1807157.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/observations-adams-buxtons-journey-into-clip-art-1807157.html ]]> <p>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. It certainly makes a change from the traditional joke-laugh-joke routine of your average stand-up. But then Adam Buxton doesn't classify himself as "an ordinary stand-up"; instead, he is a nebulous, comedic entity, using multimedia to enhance his shtick. It's not cheating so much as augmenting – as his forthcoming appearance at London's 100 Club, with support from up-and-comers Tom Basden, Paul Foot and Nick Mohammed, will demonstrate.</p> Features Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/every-sperm-is-sacred-terry-jones-favourite-monty-python-sketches-1804097.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/every-sperm-is-sacred-terry-jones-favourite-monty-python-sketches-1804097.html <p> <b>The Galaxy Song</b> </p> <p> Idle cheerily contemplates Man’s place in the universe, leading to the classic summation: “And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space/Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.” </p> Features Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:26 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/nudge-nudge-eric-idle-on-40-years-of-monty-python-1803501.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/nudge-nudge-eric-idle-on-40-years-of-monty-python-1803501.html ]]> <p> On 5 October 1969, the BBC began broadcasting a new comedy sketch series. It was surreal, yes, but then Spike Milligan's recent TV show had been surreal. Its performers , Eric Idle, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones too, were familiar from various late-1960s shows (The Frost Report, At Last the 1948 Show...). Terry Gilliam's animations, and the show's deranged stream-of-consciousness style were certainly fresh; yet no one believed that Monty Python's Flying Circus would catch the imagination not only of British viewers, but, soon after, audiences the world over, in quite the way it did. Four decades, three-and-a-half TV series and a clutch of films later, the Pythons have established themselves as the first troupe of British comedy. </p> Features Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/observations-all-in-the-same-name-of-comedy-1803892.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/observations-all-in-the-same-name-of-comedy-1803892.html <p> What's in a name? Well, if you're called Thomas or Tom, it seems you're more likely to have funny bones. </p> Features Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:59 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/observations-phil-kay-and-beardyman-set-to-improvise-at-bristol-jam-1803276.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/observations-phil-kay-and-beardyman-set-to-improvise-at-bristol-jam-1803276.html ]]> <p> 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. </p> Features Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100