© Rich Fulcher
Following on from an interview in the Huffington Post, that we told you about last week, Rich Fulcher has written his own contribution to the site, explaining how Tiny Acts of Rebellion can help prevent riots!
For more insights into the mind of the King of Tiny Rebellions, rush over here.
Fantastic news for fans of Goodnight Burbank, the cult show, written by and starring Hayden Black. The show, which started as 5 minute webisodes featuring the lovely Rich Fulcher, has finally made it to the TV Screen!
As revealed by Hayden on Facebook and Twitter, the latest series of half-hour episodes were shown on Hulu, and have now been licensed to Mark Cuban’s HDnet – a cable/satellite channel that’s available in North America and Canada.
This is the first time a half-hour web comedy has been picked up to be shown on television, so congratulations to Hayden and the rest of the Goodnight Burbank team, on this historic occasion.
You can read all about it at Hollywood Reporter, and on the Goodnight Burbank website.
There is only one downside to this story, Goodnight Burbank is still only available in North America. We’ll let you know as soon as it’s available to the rest of the World.
© Warp Films
Channel 4 has announced that it will be broadcasting Four Lions, Chris Morris‘s infamous suicide-bomber comedy, on Sunday evening.
The 2010 film follows the fortunes of a group of British jihadis on their road to martyrdom. The controversial subject matter manages to be as thought-provoking as it is hilarious, and Four Lions comes with a firm TVO recommendation for your Sunday evening’s entertainment. If further encouragement were needed, it also features Julia Davis in fine form!
The film starts at 9pm and runs until 11pm on Ch4. To read our review in full click here.
© Optimum Releasing
This Friday sees the UK theatrical release of the critically acclaimed British horror film Kill List, which features a number of TVO faces.
Directed by Ben Wheatley [The Wrong Door, Time Trumpet and the forthcoming Lowe/Oram collaboration The Sightseers], the film features former Wrong Door stars Neil Maskell [Doghouse, The Jury] and MyAnna Buring [The Descent, Doctor Who] alongside Michael Smiley [Spaced, Burke & Hare].
Maskell plays a British soldier returning home from Kiev, who joins an old friend in the business of contract killing, only to find his disturbed past forcing him to spin out of control.
A number of TVO names, who have worked with Wheatley on previous (and upcoming) projects make small appearances in the film. One of these is another familiar face from The Wrong Door - Gareth Tunley, whilst Alice Lowe and Steve Oram also make cameo appearances.
The film received its initial premier at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, back in March, and was the star of UK based Frightfest last weekend. TotalFilm have awarded the film a glowing five-star review, stating that Wheatley’s “mastery of mood and technique unleashing a visual and aural assault that’s all the more shocking for the moments of eerie quietude and inappropriate politeness that punctuate the bloodlust”. Empire, whilst not quite as enamoured, still gave the film four-stars.
All boding well for The Sightseers, then! You can catch the film in UK cinemas from Friday, and view the trailer below.
© Jimmy Crippen
Alice Lowe look set to feature in a forthcoming special edition of Classic Rock Magazine.
Tweeting late last week, Alice commented that she had spent the morning gripping a crystal ball, only for Jo Kendall, deputy editor of Classic Rock Presents Prog to reply: ”Lovely morning with you, madam. I see a fabulous feature in @ClassicRockMag in that crystal ball of yours…!”
Naturally, we at TVO wanted to wait for further confirmation before we came shouting out from the rooftops about this one, and managed to peg down the wonderful Ms Lowe, who has confirmed that it is for the quarterly Classic Rock offshoot, Classic Rock Presents Prog, and should be featuring in its Winter edition, all being well.
The interview will be all about Lowe’s prog-rock leanings, though we are unable to confirm just yet if the feature will also feature Antony Elvin, the other half of Lowe’s folk-spoof duo Hot Brew. TVO will endeavour to bring you more news on the feature closer to release.
In the meantime, you can whet your appetite with our exclusive Hot Brew interview videos below.
Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez won the Panel Prize at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for The Wrestling, starring among many others, TVO favourites Colin Hoult and Rich Fulcher!
As we mentioned earlier this month, The Wrestling was an epic match for one night only between Comedians and Wrestlers. To get a picture of the big event, take a look here on youtube.
There is also this video of Colin Hoult as The Mighty Thwor (God of Thunder), before the match.
The winners of the 31st Edinburgh Comedy Awards were announced at a ceremony at the Dovecot Studio, Edinburgh. Adam Riches won the main prize for Bring Me the Head of Adam Riches and Humphrey Ker won Best Newcomer, for Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher!
Earlier this month we mentioned that comedian Paul Foot would be taking his Edinburgh show Still Life on tour. If you haven’t experienced one of Foot’s unique performances and you’re wondering what an hour in his company entails, here’s a round-up of the reviews from his Edinburgh run (which ended yesterday)…
© Paul Foot
The vast majority of critics have given Still Life a big thumbs up, with the British Comedy Guide awarding it 5 stars and describing Foot as, “A brilliant performer, with an expertly crafted set…true alternative comedy at its very best.” The Edinburgh Evening News says, “If you like humour that reflects the world in a fairground fun house mirror, then Paul Foot’s probably right up your street”; Edinburgh Festivals describes his show as, “Unobtrusively masterful stuff. Then it gets weird, which is surely what we’re all here for.” Exeunt goes further still with its superlatives, concluding its review by saying: “By the end of the show, the whole audience (myself included) were acutely aware that we were in the presence of a performer at the top of his game.” There are further positive write-ups from SGFringe and Broadway Baby, who give the show 4 stars.
So it’s all unerringly complimentary then? Well almost. There’s a hint of negativity from a reviewer on Chortle, who says of Foot’s performance: “At times prancing and pathetic, at other times eloquent and inspired, the lasting impression of the show is an enjoyable bemusement”, although he’s still given Still Life 3 stars. Even the reviewers who applaud Foot offer a note of caution to would-be audiences, suggesting that his comedic style won’t appeal to everyone. Edinburgh Spotlight says, “His rambling delivery may prove frustrating for those looking for quick-fire jokes, he devotes too much time to some material and certain bits veer into self-indulgence.” But then who wants to see vanilla comedy that’s absolutely everyone’s cup of tea? Not us!
If that little lot has whetted your appetite, Foot’s tour kicks off in Copenhagen on 6th September – then takes in a host of UK cities during September, October and November, including a week-long run at the Soho Theatre in London. For full listings and to buy tickets visit the Show Diary on his website.
Sue Denim‘s love of bicycles is well-known…and now it has been immortalized!
Yesterday, Sue tweeted about a new song she’d penned called Bicycle. You can view the song by clicking on the image below – it features the Robot serenading her beloved bicycle under a tree.
Why not take a moment to look and listen to this lovely little tune? Who knows, maybe it’ll inspire you to surrender to the power of your own bicycle this weekend and take it for a spin!
© telegraph.co.uk
As Richard Ayoade‘s Submarine continues its glorious filmic assault on audiences around the world (this week marks its release in Sweden!) a new interview with the director has surfaced, courtesy of The Telegraph.
In this video interview Ayoade appears alongside Submarine author, Joe Dunthorne. The pair discuss how Dunthorne’s writing and Ayoade’s directorial approach combined to bring the characters and stories credibly to life whilst avoiding over-sentimentality. Dunthorne describes the experience of handing his book over to Ayoade to film as a good one saying, “He was sensitive with the baby and did a rightly brave job.”
To watch the interview in full and read The Telegraph’s review of the DVD, which concludes: “This imaginative and moody coming-of-age story announces the comedian as a singular talent in British filmmaking” click here.
If you fancy purchasing the DVD yourself why not pay a visit to The Velvet Onion’s Amazon store?
The fifth and sadly final (for now) Burge & Way sketch has been posted online. Entitled simply Eggman, to say anymore about the latest clip from Tony Way and Steve Burge would spoil its madcap charm. Just press play below!
You can see the previous sketches, which were all script edited by James Bachman and one of which features Steve Oram by clicking here, here and here.
© Anna Crilly & Katy Wix
Katy Wix is to appear in three different pilots this Autumn for Channel 4.
The actress and comedienne is perhaps best known in the UK for her role in Not Going Out, alongside former Boosh radio series star Lee Mack, whilst international audiences may recognise her for her appearance in the third series of Torchwood, and regular TVO readers will recognise her for her appearances in Jackal Films, Time Trumpet, Horrible Histories and FM.
We told you back in May about her involvement with Comedy Showcase pilot The Fun Police - which also features Vic Reeves & Rhys Darby, and is produced by Ash Attalla.
Since then, details have also emerged about a second Comedy Showcase pilot she’ll be featuring in alongside The IT Crowd‘s very own Katherine Parkinson entitled Coma Girl - an intriguing premise featuring three old school “friends” visiting a coma patient together despite their drastically different outlooks.
The new season of Comedy Showcase is due to transmit in the Autumn, but before then, Wix can be seen in her own pilot as part of the Comedy Lab range.
Set to air on September 2nd, Anna & Katy, features Wix alongside Anna Crilly in their own sketch show, which appears to feature a variety of channel hopping tv genre spoofs, including daytime TV, game shows and a German soap opera. Eamonn Holmes and Lee Mack are due to make special appearances in the pilot, which airs at 11pm on Channel 4.
As with previous editions of Comedy Lab, the episode will be available on catch-up service 4oD after transmission right here.
Weekend filmgoers will have the chance of spotting a familiar face on the big screen as Matt Berry plays a role in the feature film One Day.
Matt stars in the film alongside Hollywood A-listers Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. One Day is based on the best-selling novel by the same name, written by David Nicholls. The film follows Emma (Hathaway) and Dexter (Sturgess) as friends, and sometimes more on one specific date, July 15, over a number of years. Matt plays a character called Aaron but more is not known. You see him in the trailer below from Focus Features.
One Day is out now in cinemas across the UK. For more information about its international release dates, take a look at the IMDB page.
Furthermore, on 27th September Matt will be doing an in-store event at the Rough Trade East store in Brick Lane, east London. This will take place at 7pm, and you can obtain wristbands in two different ways: You can either buy the exclusive limited edition Matt Berry cassette the day before (26th) at the store and get the wristband at the same time; or alternatively, the remaining wristbands will be given out 1 hour before the event. You can find out more about this at the Rough Trade website.
Music enthusiasts might have spotted that Berry is one of the artists on the free CD coming with this month’s MOJO issue! MOJO has invited their favourite artists to re-imagine the two Pink Floyd albums Return to the Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here Again. This month’s issue is available in stores now.
© Rich Fulcher
As we reported last week, Rich Fulcher was due to appear on The Gilded Balloon’s Live in Edinburgh streaming show on Thursday, but was unable to. We are pleased to say he appeared on the show on Sunday and you can watch it here.
There is also an interview with Rich at the Huffington Post, where he discusses topics as varied as the London riots to the Mighty Boosh film and how he thinks the Festival Fringe has changed during the many times he’s been there.
There’s still time to see Rich and Arnab Chanda, in Tiny Acts of Rebellion. He’s at the Gilded Balloon Billiard Room, at 8.30pm until 28th August. Grab your tickets using this link.
© Talkback Thames/Steven Peskett
The fifth, and likely final series of The IT Crowd looks set for a Spring broadcast.
Speaking to The Guardian this weekend, Channel 4′s head of comedy Shane Allen, discussed his plans for the future following a whopping £9m addition to his comedy budget after the channel dropped reality series Big Brother.
Alongside plans for fresh episodes of Peep Show and the long awaited one-off return of The Comic Strip Presents…, Allen confirmed that The IT Crowd would return in April.
At present, judging by the increasingly successful careers of its stars, it’s looking increasingly likely this will be the show’s final run. Richard Ayoade recently told The Velvet Onion he planned to move increasingly behind the camera after the next series, stating: “If I was better at it, I’d probably be more keen. It’s not really my strength, so I think just on the basis of ability, I’ll probably end up doing less of it.”
The article also makes a passing reference to the forthcoming Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy, and notes that a new three part series about the perils of technology, entitled Black Mirror, is being written by Nathan Barley co-creator Charlie Brooker, as well as indicating that teen sitcom The Inbetweeners (which has previously featured our very own Waen Shepherd) is to go on hiatus indefinitely.
If you missed them last summer, don’t forget you can download exclusive IT Crowd wallpapers from our Downloads page.
© Ben Meadows Photography
Just a timely reminder from TVO that Matt Berry is a guest on long-running panel show Shooting Stars tonight.
The madcap quiz, hosted by Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer since 1993 (!) returned for it’s eighth series earlier this month, and has occasionally had previous connections to Booshdom. Noel Fielding was a guest when the show returned after a long absence back in 2009, whilst last week’s episode featured a cameo from non other than Tony Way, whose connection to Vic & Bob goes way back to their late 90s sketch show Bang, Bang, It’s Reeves & Mortimer.
Those outside the UK who are unfamiliar with the duo may recognise them both from the hour long Boosh documentary A Journey Through Time And Space, to be found inside the Mighty Boosh special edition boxset, and if you are unaware of their repertoire, we strongly suggest a trip to YouTube, followed by a dvd retailer very very quickly! Allow us to start your adventure with a classic slice of Reeves & Mortimer madness from their seminal 1995 series The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer.
Tonight’s episode of Shooting Stars was previewed on the site last week, and will be available on iPlayer for 7 days after transmission. It airs on BBC Two at 10pm.
Two further Burge & Way sketches have appeared on YouTube.
After the first two samples from their taster tape made last year, script edited by James Bachman and also featuring Steve Oram, turned up earlier this month, we’ve been looking forward to seeing more from the duo – and you can catch their two latest concoctions below. They’re not for the faint of heart, but they’re seriously funny.
© Matt Holness / facebook
Matt Holness is to direct his first full length feature.
The reclusive star of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and Man To Man With Dean Learner - forever to be known in Boosh folklore as the One-Night-Only Bob Fossil (!) – is set to make his first film behind the camera via Warp Films, according to Screen Daily.
Information is thin on the ground at present, but the commission is a development on a short film Holness made last year for the company entitled A Gun For George, which tells the story of a failed thriller writer seeking violent revenge.
The short has an imdb page, which explains that Holness wrote and directed it, as well as appearing as its titular character. Garth Marenghi would be proud! As soon as we find out any more details, we’ll keep you peeled.
A fresh Mongrels trailer has appeared online.
The second series is starting soon on BBC3, and the first teaser trailer emerged back in May. Now to get you in the mood for fresh episodes, there is a new trailer on the BBC Website, which you can also see below.
The show returns in the Autumn, and amongst its guest stars this time around is our very own Rich Fulcher! The Mongrels team also turned up at the BBC Comedy Proms last week, and you can see their appearance here. We’ll be bringing you more Mongrels coverage as we approach the second run, and you can pick up Series 1 in The Velvet Onion Amazon Store now.
© Rich Fulcher
If you’re near a computer tonight you can see Rich Fulcher on the Gilded Balloon live podcast at 8pm. Tune in here. Others set to appear on the show are Benet Brandreth, Kate Copstick, Tom Allen and Rob Carter. If you miss it, don’t worry as you can watch again on the site.
Rich also took part in the Gilded Balloon Podcast yesterday to talk about his Tiny Acts of Rebellion, such as unclipping your aeroplane seat belt a little bit too early. Patrick Monahan talks about The Wrestling and gives a bit of insight into his role on ITV 1’s Show Me The Funny. Also featured is The Boy With Tape On His Face. There’s a song from Delete The Banjax and stories and jokes from Charlie Baker and Asher Treleaven.
You can listen to this show now by clicking here.
EDIT: Rich wasn’t on tonight’s show, which you’ll know if you were watching! We have been told he’ll be on Sunday’s show at 8pm.
© tvrage.com
Julian Barratt is the voice of the channel 4 documentary series, Seven Dwarves, which began on Tuesday.
The series follows the lives of seven dwarf actors over eight weeks, as they share a house while appearing in pantomime in Woking.
Each week the show focuses on one of the housemates and in the first episode Maxwell Laird is the star. Max has appeared in The Mighty Boosh and more recently in Psychoville.
If you missed the first episode you can catch it on 4OD.
