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Special Offer For Peelers!

2 May

© The Forgery Club

If you’re a fan of the kind of comedy we write about on these velvety, oniony pages you’ll like The Forgery Club.

It’s been described as, “A unique, themed comedy night that it is the antithesis to the conventional one – man – and – microphone / observational comedy seen in the clubs up and down the country. No Forgery Club is ever same. McIntyre’s Roadshow this ain’t.” If that sounds like your cup of tea Velvet Onion followers can get two tickets for the price of one at this week’s Forgery Club at The Vandella!

The bill includes Nathaniel Tapley, Spencer Jones, Jamie Glassman and The Real MacGuffins (hosting).

The ‘Forgery Club Goes to War’ show takes place at 8pm tomorrow (Thursday) and the normal ticket price is £7 in advance (£10 on the door), so the 2  for 1 offer represents a pretty good saving. Just say “Velvet Onion” on the door to qualify for the discount.

For more information, check out The Forgery Club website or the club’s Facebook page.


Aha! Partridge On The Silver Screen

2 May

© Dave

After years of rumours, this week it was confirmed that the Alan Partridge movie is definitely happening!

The feature-length Partridge film, starring Steve Coogan, will be shot later this year and is due for release in 2013.

Armando Iannucci has been working on the script with Coogan, and Neil and Rob Gibbons (writers on the Fosters series Mid-Morning Matters and the fictional biography I, Partridge). Peter Baynham, co-writer of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brüno movie, worked on an earlier draft. Iannucci, has said that the script is written but, “We’re always rewriting, rewriting and rewriting.”

The movie will be directed by Declan Lowney, who made the first two seasons of Father Ted and A Christmassy Ted. As yet, it doesn’t have a proper title (its working title being ‘The Alan Partridge Movie’).

Of the storyline, Coogan has said, “We don’t see Alan getting Simon Cowell’s spot on American Idol and going over there. That’s too good for Alan. [His] future is always brighter in his head than it is in the real world.”

It goes without saying that we’ll be bringing you more news about this exciting project as soon as we root it out!

IAMX Get Around

1 May

© Virginie Hugues

Back in March we mentioned that IAMX would be touring later this year; today IAMX have confirmed their 2012 tour dates via a Facebook event page.

The full list of gigs is as follows:

Jun 2nd Siesta Festival  Hässleholm, Sweden
Jun 8th Young & Restless 2012  Berlin, Germany
Jul 28th Das Bett  Frankfurt a.M., Germany
Jul 29th Ronquières Festival  Ronquières, Belgium
Oct 20th eremo club  Bari, Italy
Nov 1st Glavclub  St. Petersburg, Russia
Nov 3rd Milk Moscow  Moscow, Russia
Nov 10th Crystal Hall  Kiev, Ukraine

For more information about the venues and to purchase tickets click here.

And to add to the ever-growing list of comments and Likes about the gigs visit this here Facebook page.

Sightseeing In Cannes

27 Apr

© Rook Films / Big Talk Pictures

Last year we told you about  an exciting  new film, The Sightseers, directed by Ben Wheatley (Kill List), and starring Alice Lowe and Steve Oram as a couple of caravaners.

This week we’ve heard that the film will premier At Cannes 2012 in Directors Fortnight! This is seriously impressive stuff: historically, Cannes hasn’t been particularly supportive of British comedy, so the inclusion of “pitch black comedy” The Sightseers is getting us more than a bit excited!

Director’s Fortnight at Cannes is a series of special screenings of new movies, and this year’s screenings will be opened by Michel Gondry with The We And The I. To check out which other movies have been included in the screenings click here.

For more information about the film visit The Sightseers official website or Facebook page.

Onion Talking: Dan Clark, Rock’n'Roll Star

24 Apr

As any good peeler will know Dan Clark is performing a short run of his new show These Songs May Contain Jokes from 2nd-5th May at the Soho Theatre in London. We were lucky enough to grab a cuppa and a slice of cake with Dan as he was starting rehearsals for the show. Velveteer Mog reports:

© Mog

Dan Clark is the kind of bloke mothers wish their daughters would bring home: slightly dashing, well-spoken, a hint of tweedy academia – all neatly wrapped up in boyish charm. My Mum’s loss is Dan’s gain.

The day we meet he’s fizzing with excitement about his new live show, having embarked on rehearsals with his band the previous evening. “It was so good, so good!” he beams.

Dan explains why this show differs from previous ones: “The tour (in 2011) was 70% stand-up but this one is mainly music. I had a huge number of songs, some of which I’ve never done before, some that I did in the show last year and some from the TV show – but I needed to make them feel different. We’ve completely reworked them, so even though the lyrics and the jokes are the same they feel very different.”

For the new show the musical partnership of Dan and Ben Parker (“A master of melody and harmony”) has been extended to include bass player, Jimmy Sims (“He’s brilliant and he really gets comedy”) and  drummer Johnny de’Ath (“An amazing professional musician who tours with loads of bands”).

I ask Dan how the writing process plays out now that he’s working with a full band. “They’re all my songs that I go in to play to them,” he explains, “With some of them I’ve got a clear idea of what I can hear at different points, and then at other times I’m like, ‘Here’s the song, what do you think?’ There was one last night that we ended up doing completely differently to how I’d imagined it, and it came to life. I was literally buzzing afterwards – I got to fulfil my rock star fantasies!” His enthusiasm for this project is palpable. He goes on to describe a song he wrote only last week, which will feature in the show: “Ben told me it was the best song I’d ever written so I was beaming with pride. Playing it last night was so much fun – there’s a guitar solo, a drum solo…it’s proper cheesy rock n roll!” Dan looks genuinely delighted.

The enthusiasm with which he talks about These Songs May Contain Jokes leads me to ask if he has plans to tour the show. He says that although he’d love to take it to other cities, sadly it’s not financially viable, and he doesn’t want to scale it down. “If you see the show you’ll see why. I think it feels special – it just has a really good vibe about it.” He says.

© Ben Meadows

So who are the other music/comedy acts that Dan relates to? He cites Flight of the Concords and Tenacious D as examples of artists who strike a balance between being funny with being genuinely musical: “All of our songs are written as comedy but because of the nature of the melodies and chords they don’t sound like ‘comedy jazz hands’…they’re not wacky” Dan explains, waggling his elbows…wackily, by way of illustration. ”They’re all written like I was writing a serious pop song. If you can get a few belly laughs out of a song whilst you’re also caught up in the music it’s brilliant. I’ve got a handful of songs that have managed to achieve both!” He laughs.

(more…)

Million Pound O’Dowd

23 Apr

© Channel 4

A couple of weeks we mentioned that Chris O’Dowd and his fiancee, Dawn Porter, would be contestants on Channel 4′s Million Pound Drop with Davina McCall.

They were playing to raise money for Breast Cancer Care, a charity close to Dawn’s heart. The episode featuring the couple aired on Saturday night and is available to view on 4od. If you haven’t watched the show yet we won’t spoil it by telling you what happened, so why not take a look now by clicking here? It’s nail biting stuff!

To find out more about Breast Cancer Care’s fantastic work take a look at their website.

Linehan Has News For You

21 Apr

© BBC

Graham Linehan was one of the guest panelists on last night’s Have I Got News For You.

Linehan joined team captain Paul Merton on the BBC2 current affairs quiz show, which was hosted by Jo Brand. The episode is available to view on BBC iPlayer for 6 further days, and you can see it by clicking here.

Linehan also features in this month’s Mat Ricardo’s London Varieties, which is available to download as a podcast. Every month, juggler and comedian Mat Ricardo hosts a variety show live from the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club in East London – and this month Mat sat down to chat about comedy, writing, naked women and penguin webcams with Linehan. To listen to the podcast visit The British Comedy Guide website.

Bafta Craft 2012

18 Apr

Booshniverse-related acts enjoyed a healthy showing in the Bafta Film nominations earlier this year, and now it’s the turn of the Bafta Television Craft Awards.

© BBC2

The British Academy Television Craft Awards celebrate the talent behind the cameras – the often unsung heroes involved in writing and producing our favourite TV shows. This year there are several nominations for TVO-relevant shows:

BBC2 drama The Crimson Petal And The White featuring Chris O’Dowd is up for ‘Editing, fiction’ (Luke Dunkley), ‘Make-up and Hair design’ (Jacqueline Fowler), and ‘Photography & Lighting, fiction’ (Lol Crawley). Black Mirror, written by Charlie Brooker, is also nominated – for ‘Production Design’ (Joel Collins, Daniel May) for the episode ’15 Million Merits’, which featured Julia Davis.

To see the full list of nominations across 18 craft categories click here. The awards will take place in London, on Sunday 13 May 2012, and we’ll be sure to let you know what happens!

Club Fantastico: Theatre Of The Absurd

17 Apr

© Oram & Meeten

Last Thursday saw the hotly-anticipated return of Club Fantastico, Steve Oram and Tom Meeten’s somewhat unhinged comedy night.

With guest appearances from Alice Lowe, Waen Shepherd and Rich Fulcher, The Velvet Onion was, naturally, on hand at The Vandella in Shepherds Bush to experience the madness.

Velveteer Mog reports…

Club Fantastico is a difficult beast to pin down. For a brief, fleeting moment at the start of the show, you’d be forgiven for thinking Oram and Meeten are a traditional comedy double act: two blokes (one with beard) in smart grey suits, matey banter with a northern twang – it’s there.

Then, slowly at first, strange things start to happen, as if a LSD-spiked dream is gradually revealing itself on stage. Oram’s hilarious, heaving hatred of The Manic Street Preachers seems to be the catalyst, swiftly followed the techno aggression of Sean the Prawn (menacing as hell in a salmon-pink mac). It’s at this point you realise it’s going to be a very silly night indeed.

© Mog

The acts come thick and fast, each one fractionally more bizzarre than the one that precedes it: A 1940′s wartime lesbian wrestling singalong with the fantastically talented Alice Lowe; then Waen Shepherd who’s painted up like one of the weirder characters from Blue Velvet, singing ear-boggling songs like “Saucy Little Infant” , that are as clever and funny as they are inappropriate.

© Mog

This is followed by a foul-mouthed, sarcastic baby with a vibrator, played a little too convincingly (for someone about to become a parent!) by Rich Fulcher.

“I have no moral compass, I’m a baby!” he hollers at the front few rows.  A throwback to his Jackal Films cameo, thanks to his performance I will never think about my nether regions in quite the same way again. Cheers, Rich.

This procession of oddness is punctuated by pitch-perfect deadpan conversations with Oram and Meeten’s beyond-mundane friend “John” (Alex Kirk) from the back of the room. While apparently throwaway, these help to reset vibe in the venue for the next performance.

The show ends with the infamous Club Fantastico Beauty Contest: a close-run showdown between a horny feral German (Lowe), a defecating Geisha  (Sean, formerly of ‘prawn’ fame) and Blake Lively (Waen Shepherd). Gloriously silly stuff!

© Mog

This was an evening with the potential to exclude the audience with its strangeness. However the oddness of the acts was beautifully balanced by Oram and Meeten’s between-act stage presence, which leant the evening a joyful energy and charm that carried the audience along in a warm embrace.

© Mog

The dynamic between the two performers is perfectly pitched, each one taking their turn in the spotlight, while the other provides a supportive comedic harmony. So we get to admire Meeten’s deranged Irish singer, silenced only by the bag on his head, and of course the divine Mary, Oram’s sublime alter-ego with bad teeth and a red dress. Each in turn, and also together. Tonight, the evening is Oram and Meeten’s.

Club Fantastico offers a thoroughly modern take on Vaudeville theatre, managing to strike the tricky balance between chaos and watchability. From the crowd’s noisy reaction to the performances it’s clear that it’s a club with a lot of support. When that the crowd includes the likes of of Julian Barratt, Dan Clark, Simon Farnaby & Arnab Chanda, as it did last week, that’s not to be sniffed at. 

Club Fantastico returns to The Vandella next month. For more info as soon as we get it, stay peeled.

Game Of Thrones III

15 Apr

© HBO

Game of Thrones, the medieval fantasy TV show produced by HBO, and featuring Tony Way as Dontos, has been commissioned for a third series.

The confirmation of a third series comes when the second series is only a few episodes in, but is hardly surprising given the success of the show amongst both critics and fans (the second series debuted on Sky Atlantic on April 2 and attracted 522,000 viewers – beating Mad Men’s debut the previous week which only pulled in 98,000 viewers!).

The show is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin’s series of five fantasy novels. The series is filmed in Northern Ireland, Malta, Croatia and Iceland. Way stars as drunken knight Dontos Hollard in the ten-part second series, but we don’t yet know whether he’ll feature in the third.

Game of Thrones can be viewed in the UK on Sky Atlantic.

Neighborhood Watch In The News

9 Apr

© Twentieth Century Fox

A few weeks ago we shared the trailer for the movie Neighborhood Watch with you. You may have been wondering what’s happened to the film since then.

According to Sunday’s New York Times, news events in the US have impacted on the marketing of the Hollywood film. Neighborhood Watch stars Richard Ayoade alongside Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan and Tim Jonah as a group of middle-aged neighborhood vigilantes battling alien invaders. Executives at Twentieth Century Fox have been keen to distance the film from the recent incident involving the shooting of 17-year old Trayvon Martin.

In a phased promotional withdrawal that began in March Fox pre-emptively withdrew its trailers and advertising materials (that said, the trailer is currentlystill available to view on youtube!). The intention is to replace them with imagery that is deemed more relevant to the comedic subject matter of the film.

In a statement issued last week Fox extended sympathy to those touched by the Martin shooting, and said, “Our film is a broad alien invasion comedy and bears absolutely no relation to the tragic events in Florida.” Late last week Fox declined to elaborate on the studio’s plans for the film.

To read the article in full visit the New York Times’ website . If we hear any more about the plans for the film we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Vote for Tom Selleck’s Moustache

8 Apr

Richard Sandling‘s short video Tom Selleck’s Moustache is shortlisted for a Viewers’ Choice award for ‘Best remix, mash-up or super cut’ in the 2012 Comedy Awards.

The video offers a visual celebration of the second-best facial fuzz ever seen on a TV screen (Howard Moon’s tache occupies the top spot, obviously!). To view the video click on the image below, and to cast your vote visit the 2012 Comedy Awards website now.

More Fulcher Live!

7 Apr

© RichFulcher.com

Rich Fulcher will be playing at The Book Club in East London on 1st May.

He will performing as part of the next monthly ‘Special Relationship’ event, which is described as “the polymath of storytelling nights – a regular monthly event bringing its audience fiction, non-fiction, comedy, music and illustration.” Sounds interesting.

Also on the bill are Nikesh Shukla, Craig Taylor, Jarred McGinnis, Sam Taradash and host Tom Basden. It runs from 7.30-10.30pm and tickets cost £5. To purchase tickets in advance click here.

For more information check out the event’s Facebook page.

While we’re on the subject of Rich live, we’ve discovered that the Knock2bag comedy night on 11th April that features Rich in the line-up is one of this week’s Time Out offers. That means half price tickets! Click here for more information, or to buy a ticket for only £4 (offer available until 12pm on Wednesday).

O’Dowd Drops In For Charity

5 Apr

© The List

Chris O’Dowd and fiancee, Dawn Porter, are joining forces for a celebrity special of Channel 4′s  ’Million Pound Drop’ to raise money for Breast Cancer Care.

The charity is close to Dawn’s heart after she lost her mother to the disease when she was young, and last year she made a Sky documentary which allowed her to raise awareness of the condition.

This particular episode of ‘Million Pound Drop’ is not yet listed in the TV schedules, but when we find out its transmission date we’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, to find out about Breast Cancer Care’s fantastic work visit their website here.

Art By Fielding

3 Apr

It’s been a good week for anyone with a keen interest in both art and Noel Fielding.

© Noel Fielding @ Hooligan Art Dealer

Noel’s art dealer, Hooligan Art Dealer, has made available a new selection of his work on her website. There are 26 new pieces in all, including a series of studies of Elvis, and a new painting of the rampant Chlamydia Tiger, made famous in series 1 of Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy.  All the art is signed by Noel with prices available on request. To view the full collection check out Hooligan Art Dealer’s website.

As most of you will know by now, Noel also featured in last night’s Damien Hirst special on Channel 4. Yesterday’s evening of special programming about Hirst is timed to coincide with his new show at Tate Modern in London. Noel can be seen interviewing him in The First Look, which is available to view for 28 days on 4od by clicking here. Remember that UK dwellers can also experience a 360-degree tour of Hirst’s exhibition with Noel as your tour guide here.

Twitter fans will probably be aware that Noel’s appearance on the show provoked a spot of snobbery from the Times art critic, Waldemar Januszczak, causing a somewhat enthusiastically barbed response from Noel’s followers.  The reaction caused Noel to trend on Twitter… and you can see the results on his Twitter page here.

Editors note: Whilst we at TVO will always support Noel, we are remaining on the outside of this one!

Busy Berry

3 Apr

During the past week we’ve heard news about a couple of new projects for Matt Berry.

First up is his participation in a new feature film Kubricks. Matt is listed as the first cast member (“Donald”) which suggests he has a significant part in the film. If a further TVO connection was required, it also features actress Joanna Pickering, who’s appeared in an episode of Nathan Barley. Kubricks is written and directed by Dean Cavanagh and scheduled for release in 2013.

Next is Matt’s vocal involvement in an animated short by the name of The Death of Winston Pickle, for which he’s providing a monologue. For a quick look at what it’s all about, take a look at the (very) short extract below:

Unfortunately the details for both of these projects are currently in short supply, but if we find out any more we’ll be sure to share.

Latest From Thomas & Way

31 Mar

© Tony Way Rhys Thomas

The latest Thomas & Way podcast is now online of your aural pleasure.

The sixth podcast from Rhys Thomas and Tony Way is described by Way as containing four firsts: 1. It was recorded outside; 2. It was recorded on Way’s phone; 3. The recording partly took place in the back of a cab, and 4. For once Way was more drunk than Thomas.

The conversation itself takes in pork, Only Fools And Horses USA, politics, and the traffic on the Euston Road.

You can listen to the podcast on PodBean or iTunes – where you can also check out the previous five recordings if you’ve been careless enough to miss any.

Sandling Rants

30 Mar

Richard Sandling casts his somewhat cynical eye over the week’s entertainment-related news in a new youtube edition of The Carvery.

In the latest of Sandling’s on-camera rants, the focus of his bile is the world of newspapers. Everything from The Guardian’s ’3 Little Pigs’ TV ad through to editors’ decisions to carry horoscopes within their pages comes under fire.

Take pleasure in watching someone being simultaneously grumpy and energised by clicking on the picture below:

Paper Brew

27 Mar

© Sally Grosart

Sally Grosart is clever and creative with paper – and she has great taste in comedy. We’ve featured her work on TVO before; you may remember her as the lady who creates Booshniverse-related characters out of paper cut-outs.

The latest addition to Sally’s collection is the marvellous Hot Brew, Antony Elvin and Alice Lowe’s vegetable-centric folk outfit. This new creation joins her series of all things Boosh, the entire cast of How Not Live Your Life…and basically everyone involved in the TV shows you’ve been watching over the past five years!

To download the Hot Brew artwork visit Sally’s website here. And to see who else has been turned into paper cut-outs check out her homepage.

Random

27 Mar

© Adult Swim

Julian Barratt will be providing the narration for an innovative new entertainment experience, The Random Adventures of Brandon Generator.

Brandon is a would-be writer whose world unravels as he looks for inspiration. The Random Adventures of Brandon Generator is an immersive web-based film/game/comic experience that the viewer can shape as it unfolds.

Although the project is actually a thinly-veiled marketing exercise for Intermet Explorer, the people involved  suggest it’s still worth keeping an eye on it. In addition to Julian’s vocal talents, Brandon Generator is written by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and drawn by renowned Marvel artist Tommy Lee Edwards.

For more information, check out the project’s website, twitter or facebook page.

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