Archive | 1:58 pm

Commissioned To The Skies!

27 Jan

© Chris O’Dowd (Twitter: @BigBoyler)

It seems that Sky1 are drastically becoming the new place to be for the latest hits in the comedy world – we all completely fell for the colorful wonderment that was This Is Jinsy, and now some familiar names from the Booshdom are still cropping up left right and center!

Firstly Julia Davis is said to be working on a new sitcom for the channel according to Chortle. Julia, who will never be too far from her dark roots, will be writing and starring in Hunderby, which revolves around Helene the survivor of a shipwreck in 19th Century. As you may remember, Davis has already made an appearance on Sky  (alongside Julian Barratt, dare we forget) in the short film of Chekhov’s The Bear.

The show will also (not-so-surprisingly) be produced by Baby Cow, who you will all know as a popular name for us at The Velvet Onion.

As if Steve Coogan wasn’t busy enough, he is also working on Starlings, another new comedy to come out of Sky1!  Along with this, Chris O’Dowd has landed himself a series based on his short film from the Little Crackers series in 2010. The series MooneBoy, tells the tale of a young boy and his imaginary friend.

For more info on all these exciting new comedy-gems, you can head over to Such Small Portions right here.

Onion Talking: Dave Brown, The Scribbling Slasher Part Two

27 Jan

During the rise of the Boosh, Dave Brown provided the vast majority of the designs for the DVD covers, menus, posters and beyond. As the work flowed in a steady stream, the time came to start up his own design company and so, APE was born. At the moment The Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton book and Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy may be at the top of the barrel but you can find APE’s work in many other places.

© Dave Brown

While all this work was being produced, Brown could still be found on screen and on stage either pulling some shapes, singing or posing as our favourite gorilla. The line between designing and comedy could seem somewhat fuzzy; how they become separate from each other is a question that Dave answers with an admirable perspective and confidence, “They do overlap occasionally, I like to think I approach creative work with humor in mind, its not always easy but wherever possible I try, people react and gravitate towards something that makes them smile, its human nature. Over the years I have worked with more comedians through Boosh  work and contacts like Tim Key, Rich Fulcher of course, & Jimmy Carr, I think being involved in comedy helps you understand what comedians are after design & photography wise, I’d like to work with more to be honest, It’s always annoyed me how so many comedians have the same style posters, lazy designs with little ideas, without blowing ones trumpet The Boosh as well as those that do care and appreciate the power of good branding stand out a mile!” (more…)

Smeggin’ Hoult!

27 Jan

© Colin Hoult / Dawn Sedgwick Management

Colin Hoult is in for a whirlwind 2012, with new projects on radio, television, stage and an appearance in revived sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf!

The comedian and actor, fresh from his performances in shows as varied as Life’s Too Short,  House Of Rooms and Pixelface, has been cast in an unknown part in the tenth series of the cult classic, which airs on Dave later this year.

The show is part of Dave’s new drive for original comedy, following its enormous success with their initial Red Dwarf mini-series in 2009, ten years after the show last aired on BBC2.  Hoult, of course, made his own pilot for Dave, Zimbani back in 2010, alongside Dave McNeill and Julian Barratt, which you can catch again here.

Elsewhere, it has been confirmed by Colin’s management that he has sold two television ideas to be developed in 2012, of which we’ll no doubt hear more about in due course.  Hoult has also been granted his own radio pilot, and if the result are half as good as his live shows, we’ll have one of the most impressive half hours of radio in some time!

Speaking of live shows, as we’ve previously confirmed, Colin is set to return to the Leicester Square Theatre with his monthly New Adventures strand from March, and he’ll be appearing at the Udderbelly Festival in London in May with his Ultimate Carnival Of Monsters show.

Wix & Crilly Return

27 Jan

© Channel 4

Katy Wix & Anna Crilly are to feature in their own series on Channel 4.

The duo, who made a pilot as part of the channel’s Comedy Lab range last Summer, have been granted a full six-episode run after the initial episode received a warm welcome.  It is set to air later this year.

Channel 4′s head of comedy, Shane Allen – a key supporter of Luxury Comedy and the kind of funny business we at TVO like to shout about – commented: ”Right from the start of 2012 we’re delivering back to back series with daring and hugely distinct comedy voices as an anti-dote to the safe, broad comedy drama you might find elsewhere.

“Channel 4 is the place to take risks and give opportunities to comedy’s mavericks and lunatics. Katy & Anna are both and we’re so thrilled they wanted to make their break with us”.

Meanwhile, Crilly can be seen alongside Gareth Tunley, David Armand and occasionally, Colin Hoult in CBBC sitcom Pixelface - and the pair continue to appear in adverts for Harvey’s Furniture, including sponsorship tags around ITV’s flagship soap opera Coronation Street!

A Post-Luxury News Round Up

27 Jan

The neon colours fizzing on our TV screens from last night’s inaugural episode of Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy have barely faded away, and there’s already a ton of stuff to update you on:

As you’ll already know if you follow us, Noel appeared on two radio shows yesterday. To start with, he guested on Danny Wallace’s Xfm Breakfast Show in the morning. To hear the show click here; Noel appears at 1:13:48 (precisely). Then in the afternoon he was Steve Wright’s show on BBC Radio 2. You can hear this for 6 further days on iPlayer, and you’ll find Noel at around 1:33:55 (precisely…again!).

There’s also a short filmed interview with Noel on BBC Radio 1′s Newsbeat here, in which he talks about the show and working with Serge Pizzorno from Kasabian on the music.

© E4

Next up is a competition that E4 is running – to win one of his much sought-after infamous painted plates; in fact to win one of the plates that features in the show, signed by the man himself! To enter the competition visit E4′s website here.

© Channel 4/Secret Peter

And finally, what did people think – what did the real world make of Noel’s new creative baby?  The buzz on twitter pushed #luxurycomedy to a Worldwide trend, and the majority of that buzz was positive. The opinion in the wider world reflected the comments in our ‘How was It For You’ post below: there were a few hardcore Boosh fans who refused to accept Noel flying solo, and a few who decided it definitely wasn’t for them, but overall the response from those who watched it was very excited and positive. A typical quote from last night’s twitter feed read: Loved it! It was like a mash up of Button Moon, Mooncat and Banana Splits! Dondylion, hula hoops AND Dave Lee Roth….*win*

If you didn’t catch the show, or you reckon a second viewing might help make things a bit clearer, the first episode is now available to watch on 4oD by clicking here or on youtube here. Crazymad!

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