All white on the night: the perennial problem with TV panel shows

The format should give comic talents a time to shine. So why don’t our flagship shows reflect the diversity of comedy in 2021?Panel shows have been a pillar of British comedy for decades. The News Quiz began in 1977 and Have I Got News for You in 1990,…

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Athena Kugblenu: ‘The more you get cancelled, the more immune you are to it’

The standup comedian’s new Radio 4 series picks through the minefield of cancel culture – and offers up a few mea culpas“If real life was like social media, it would look like The Good Place,” says standup Athena Kugblenu, referring to the sitcom about…

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Funny Festival Live review – BBC series puts standups back on stage

BBC2, live and on catchupThis chance to see new comedy faces, including Judi Love, Michael Stranney and Toussaint Douglass, reaps easygoing rewardsVictoria Wood, Harry Hill and Eddie Izzard are among the comics celebrated in the BBC’s new Festival of F…

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Radio 4 standups zoom through angst from all angles

The BBC’s new comedy series brings together half-hour sets from Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Imran Yusuf and Joz Norris Netflix, Amazon Prime … Radio 4? It’s not just global content platforms carving up the standup market. Radio 4 has broadcast sets in recen…

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Bill Bailey: ‘Strictly’s been extraordinary! I’ve even surprised myself’

The comic has dazzled viewers with his dancing skills. He explains how he has used lockdown to learn exotic musical instruments, how the arts are being devastated by the pandemic, and why we’re all sick of ‘jackanape’ politiciansBill Bailey is not sitt…

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Bill Bailey: ‘Strictly’s been extraordinary! I’ve even surprised myself’

The comic has dazzled viewers with his dancing skills. He explains how he has used lockdown to learn exotic musical instruments, how the arts are being devastated by the pandemic, and why we’re all sick of ‘jackanape’ politiciansBill Bailey is not sitt…

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Our culture has lost its appetite for risk and making people feel uncomfortable | Kenan Malik

The debate about the BBC reveals that even when it comes to comedy we are stuck in echo chambers‘A real comedian – that’s a daring man,” Eddie Waters, an old standup turned evening class tutor, tells a group of would-be comics in Trevor Griffiths’s bri…

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Let the BBC’s new boss do his worst – with comedy, I’d rather be offended than bored | Suzanne Moore

New director-general Tim Davie will reportedly steer TV comedy to the right to correct years of perceived anti-Tory bias. But it was Brexit, not the BBC, that put a spanner in British humourJust as I couldn’t work myself up over what anyone sings at th…

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Let the BBC’s new boss do his worst – with comedy, I’d rather be offended than bored | Suzanne Moore

New director-general Tim Davie will reportedly steer TV comedy to the right to correct years of perceived anti-Tory bias. But it was Brexit, not the BBC, that put a spanner in British humourJust as I couldn’t work myself up over what anyone sings at th…

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Netflix removes “Little Britain” and Chris Lilley’s shows over blackface controversy

We have seen a lot of backlash coming in the last few weeks. First it was directed at Jimmy Fallon… MORE
Netflix removes “Little Britain” and Chris Lilley’s shows over blackface controversy appeared first on The Laugh Button.

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