Showing titles in Performing Arts

Rising to the Surface traces Lenny Henry's career through the '80s and '90s. The 16-year-old who won a talent competition now has to navigate his way through the seas of professional comedy, learning his craft through sheer graft and hard work. We follow Lenny through a period of great creativity—prize-winning TV programmes, summer seasons across Britain, the starring role in a Hollywood film, stand-up gigs in New York and a gala wedding to Dawn French. But with each rise, there is a fall, the most traumatic being the death of his mother.

Presented by writer, comedian and self-confessed listomaniac Susan Calman, this hilarious show celebrates the power of the humble list—from 'Buzzfeed' to 'bucket' and everything in between. Accompanying Susan for a spot of comic categorising are a panel of special guests, including Lucy Porter, Joe Lycett, Richard Herring, Katherine Ryan, James Acaster, Miles Jupp, Lucy Beaumont, Nat Luurtsema, Alun Cochrane, Sarah Millican, Ricky Wilson, Roisin Conaty and Isy Suttie. Together, they participate in a variety of anarchic games themed around lists both magnificent and mundane.

They say you can’t teach stand-up comedy, but you can certainly give a lot of good advice. The best comedians in the business share bits of advice and full-fledged stories to impart the lessons they learned treading the boards, hitting the road, and of course, on occasion, bombing.

Stand-up comedy in Britain is booming, audiences are flocking to comedy clubs in the thousands! Recorded at the legendary Camden Jongleurs club in London, this compilation features 10 of the hottest comics on the UK circuit, performing blistering routines to ecstatic audiences. With Ed Byrne, Rhona Cameron, Sean Meo, Omid Djalili, Junior Simpson, Adam Bloom, Mike Gunn, Marcus Brigstocke, Andy Parsons, and Simon Evans.

Ade Edmondson smashed onto the comedy circuit in the 1980s, stormed The Comedy Store and, alongside Rik Mayall, brought anarchy to stage and screen. How did a child brought up in a strict Methodist household – and who spent his formative years incarcerated in repressive boarding schools – end up joining the revolution? Well, he is part Norse. Could it be his berserker heritage? With wisdom, nostalgia and uniquely observed humour, Ade traces his journey through life and comedy.

Welcome to Net Positive, a comedy podcast hosted by comedian John Crist. This show is your primary source for quality conversation, bold takes, emotionally-charged rants, questionable advice, incorrect statistics, and more. New episodes drop every Thursday on all podcast platforms, and you can catch full video episodes and more on YouTube. This podcast won't solve all the world's problems, but on the net...it's a positive. Catch the video podcast on YouTube, and follow us on social media (@netpositivepodcast) for clips, bonus content, and updates throughout the week. Produced by: Alex Lagos / ...

Every community has a story. Join comedians Alex White, Jamie Kirk and Drew Bensley as they interview a new guest each week about the history of where they grew up, local landmarks, coming of age tales and the hometown heroes they can’t seem to forget.

Jo Brand is one of Britain's funniest and best-loved comedians. With a sharp eye for the absurd and in her own unique voice, she tells her story for the first time. What possessed her to become a professional comedian in the cut-throat world of stand-up comedy after 10 years as a psychiatric nurse? How did she deal with late-night drunken audiences? Raised in middle class comfort, Brand left home in her teens to live with someone entirely inappropriate.

Created by John Lloyd in 1977, The News Quiz has gone on to become one of the longest running panel games on BBC Radio 4. Originally hosted by Barry Norman, since then Simon Hoggart, Barry Took, Sandi Toksvig, Miles Jupp, Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes and Andy Zaltzman have taken up the chair. The satirical quiz show's panel of comedians and journalists trawl through news stories big and small to provide comedy, commentary, irony and irreverence. This is a brand-new collection of previously unpublished episodes taken from the archives

Maria Bamford is back and subjectively better than ever! Weakness is her brand, so get ready to feel much better about yourself. This Lady Dynamite explodes onstage (after two naps with her husband Scott and two old, pillowy dogs). Let her be the poor example from which your greatness can be determined.

Roseanne Barr is a force of nature. Whether taking the sitcom world by storm, challenging accepted social norms, or battling the wild pigs inhabiting her nut farm in Hawaii, she is not to be trifled with. In this audiobook, Roseanne unleashes her razor-sharp observations on hypocrisy, hubris, and self-perpetuating institutions of questionable value - as well as menopause, pharmaceuticals, and her grandkids. And she's as controversial, original, and funny as ever.

It's about time we stopped respecting myths and started laughing at them - because they're really very weird. Did you know Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, was born of some discarded genitals? Or that Hera threw her own son off a mountain because he was ugly? Or that Apollo once kidnapped a boat full of people while pretending to be a dolphin? And let's not even get started on Zeus - king of the gods, ruler of the skies and a man who's never heard of self-control.

Ali Wong's stand-up special delves into her sexual adventures, hoarding, the rocky road to pregnancy, and why feminism is terrible.

Scottish comedy sensation Danny Bhoy recorded live in Montreal. He has been outstandingly successful in the USA and Canada, appearing on the David Letterman Show and Comedy Central. WARNING: Contains explicit language.

David Sedaris's remarkable ability to uncover the hilarious absurdity teeming just below the surface of everyday life is surpassed only by his ability to make his stories even more hilarious when he reads them aloud.

Four further series of the award-winning satirical panel show. For over 45 years, The News Quiz has been taking a scalpel to the headlines, dissecting them with its inimitable blend of satire, silliness and sharp-witted commentary. These 32 episodes, first broadcast between April 2018 and May 2019, find the team tackling stories big and small from that news-packed year.

Having stormed shows such as Have I Got News for You (BBC1), Live At The Apollo (BBC1), Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Road Show (BBC1) and now as the new host of Channel 4’s Stand Up for the Week and team captain on 8 out of 10 Cats, the brilliantly funny Jon Richardson is the UK’s rising comedy star to watch out for! Discussing the everyday items that have a profound effect on his outlook, Funny Magnet is Jon’s new hilarious sell-out show that will be touring the UK in 2012.

Audible's Comedy Club gives you a front row seat for full length comedy shows from some of the best stand-ups on the scene.

“Black, dry, irreverent, ironic, self-mocking” are all words that have been used to describe Australian humour. This humour is reflected in the unique slang that is used by Aussies. The author has compiled a comprehensive catalogue of Australian colloquialisms and has included not only explanations of their meanings, but in several cases short stories and examples of them.

For the last two years, Frank Skinner has managed to squeeze in a weekly column for The Times. Without fail, he sat down every week and wracked his brain to think of something to write 900 words about. This is the brilliant result.