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Fundraiser Quest

7 Jan
© BBC Audio

© BBC Audio

Kevin Eldon will be joined by Robin Ince, Norman Lovett, Simon Munnery, John Otway, Howard Read and Peter Buckley-Hill on Wednesday 9th January at 7.30pm at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London.

The Event is to raise funds for the Free Fringe, which has become a big part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It gives performers who can’t afford to pay to appear at The Fringe a chance to show their talents during the Festival.

The line-up is still subject to change, so there may be more acts added before the show.

Tickets cost £15, concessions £12.50, and is recommended for over 16′s only. More information and tickets can be found here.

If you need to see more live Kevin Eldon then you could try your luck at getting free tickets to the recordings of Elvenquest, the fantasy sitcom starring Mr Eldon alongside Stephen Mangan, Alistair McGowan, Darren Boyd and Dave Lamb.  James Bachman appeared in the first series so may be there too.

The show features a band of Questers on their journey to find the Sword of Asnagar, the only thing that can rid Lower earth from the tyranny of the evil Lord Darkness. Kevin Eldon has two roles in the show – Dean the Dwarf, one of the Questers and Kreech, servant of the evil Lord Darkness.

The show is being recorded on 15, 20 January and 3 February at the BBC Radio Theatre in London.

If you’ve never heard Elvenquest before or want to hear it again, you can get the CD’s from TVO Store.

Bleak Interviews

22 Dec
mark-evans-722163437

Mark Evans

You may remember our  previous post about the fifth series of Bleak Expectations currently airing on BBC Radio 4, and the book of the series.

To complement this we’re pleased to find a lovely in-depth interview with the series writer and creator Mark Evans over on The British Comedy Guide. Here you can find out how Mark writes Bleak Expectations, how he got into comedy and what the deal is with swans.

If you want to know even more about Mark and his career, there is also an interview on Wales online, where he shares his ambitions of being an astronaut.

The book and CD’s of series 1 to 4 are available from The Velvet Onion Store.

Bleak Books

8 Dec
© Amazon.co.uk

© Amazon.co.uk

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, a new series of Bleak Expectations, the radio show starring James Bachman, can be heard on Tuesdays at 6.30pm on  BBC Radio 4 and on iPlayer.

Writer Mark Evans has written a novel starring the characters from the series including Pip Bin, Harry Biscuit and Mr Gently Benevolent.

The book is of course  available from  The Velvet Onion Store for the small sum of £9.59.

For those of you with a Kindle or reader there is also the offer of a Tantalizing Taster to whet your appetite for the full version.

TVO Stars Up For British Comedy Awards!

3 Dec
© British Comedy Awards

© British Comedy Awards

The nominations for the 2012 British Comedy Awards have been announced, and a number of TVO flavoured productions are, quite rightly, in the running.

Amazingly, all four shows up for Best New Comedy Programme can be traced back to these very pages, starting with the remarkable Hunderby featuring Rufus Jones and Kevin Eldon, but most notably written by and starring Julia Davis.

The show will be battling it out against the wonderful Chris O’Dowd‘s sitcom Moone Boy and a third hilarious Baby Cow production, Alan Partridge: Welcome To The Places Of My Life which not only featured Steve Coogan as the titular character but was directed by Dave Lambert, no less!

The final show in this category has a less obvious TVO connection, but it’s there all the same – as sketch show Cardinal Burns was script edited by Rufus Jones!  So whoever wins, TVO can celebrate!

In other categories, Hunderby will be fighting for the Best Sitcom gong against Rev (which featured a guest appearance from James Bachman), Twenty Twelve and The Thick Of It.  A tough competition for that one, but we’re naturally rooting for Julia over here!  The aforementioned Cardinal Burns is also up for Best Sketch Show, as is CBBC behemoth Horrible Histories which counts Simon Farnaby and Alice Lowe amongst its ensemble cast.  They’ll both be going up against Facejacker (starring Four Lions and Bad Sugar star Kayvan Novak), and cult new show Very Important People.

Steve Coogan will be fending off challenges from Peter Capaldi, Hugh Bonneville and Tom Hollander for the title of Best TV Comedy Actor, whilst Bad Sugar star Olivia Coleman’s two roles in Twenty Twelve and Rev will be up against Lizzie & Sarah star Jessica Hynes, and The Day Today legend Rebecca Front for Best TV Comedy Actress.

Harry Hill’s TV, produced by Spencer Millman has received it’s final nomination for Best Comedy Entertainment Programme, which sees it square up to The Graham Norton Show, Celebrity Juice and Alan Carr’s Chatty Man for the title.   Hill will also be hoping to win Best Male Television Comic, and he’s up against the likes of Sean Lock, Blunder and Bruiser veteran David Mitchell and Boosh radio series star Lee Mack, who is perhaps now best known for his role in Not Going Out alongside Katy Wix.  The Best Female Television Comic section is the only one with no TVO link, and it will be decided between Jo Brand, Nina Conti, Sarah Millican and Sue Perkins.

© Baby Cow / Sky

© Baby Cow / Sky

Despite being a standup veteran, Nina Conti is also up for Best Comedy Breakthrough Artist, as are Cardinal Burns, Morgana Robinson and our personal favourite, young Moone Boy star David Rawle.  Finally, Best Comedy Entertainment Personality will be one of the following four men: Stephen Fry, Harry Hill, Graham Norton or Nathan Barley writer Charlie Brooker.

For more details on the awards, which take place on December 12th and are broadcast live on Channel 4, visit their official website now – and good luck to everyone nominated!

More Expectations

29 Nov

© amazon

Calling all radio fans and anyone who loves comedy! The new (5th) series of Mark Evans’ Dickensian comedy Bleak Expectations is being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 6.30pm on Tuesdays.

Don’t worry if you missed any episodes because they are available on BBC iPlayer.

Starring James Bachman as Harry Biscuit alongside Richard Johnson, Anthony Head, Tom Allen, Geoffrey Whitehead, Sarah Hadland and Susy Kane, this series follows the increasingly strange misadventures of Pip Bin and his nemesis Mr Gently Benevolent, and  promises shipwrecks, time machines, the Wild West, volcanoes, the Underworld and a sinister new kind of cake! Previous series have involved Martians so expect the unexpected!

If you haven’t heard Bleak Expectations before, or there is a gap in your collection, you can get all the previous series’ from the TVO Store.

Radio Times

10 Oct

© amazon

All you radio loving Peelers are in for a treat. There are tickets available for not just one, but two TVO related radio shows.

First up is The Headset Set  starring Colin Hoult and written by the cast. This is the second series and follows the adventures of an office of eccentric workers and their unfortunate customers at a call centre.

The show is at The RADA Studios (formerly the Drill Hall), London | BBC Radio Theatre, London on 12th, 14th and 28th October so if you want to go on 12th October you should apply now! Tickets are free from the BBC Website.

There are also tickets for one episode of the Dickensian comedy Bleak Expectations starring James Bachman, Richard Johnson, Anthony Head, Tom Allen,  Geoffrey Whitehead, Sarah Hadland and Susy Kane. This series follows the increasingly strange misadventures of Pip Bin and his nemesis Mr Gently Benevolent.

This one performance is on 4th November at the RADA studios and tickets are again available from the BBC Website.

If you haven’t heard Bleak Expectations before, or there is a gap in your collection, you can get all the previous series’ from the TVO Store.

The 13th Hour Approaches

8 Oct

© AlleyKat Productions

Colin Hoult,  Richard Sandling, Rich Fulcher, James Bachman and Gareth Tunley are amongst the names appearing at The 13th Hour Horror Festival later this month at The Leicester Square Theatre.

The inaugural event is the brainchild of AlleyKat Productions – aka Alexandra Smith and Kat Hoult – and includes theatre, comedy, themed events, music, lectures, film, podcasting as well as exhibitions of photography, art and design.

The aim is to make this an annual event, so the duo have packed the line-up to the rafters with great events across 12 days.   There’s lots to see, but here’s a quick run-down of the Onion-tinged shows you’ll want to check out.

Colin Hoult’s Real Horror Show

OCTOBER 24th / OCTOBER 25th

© Colin Hoult

Though it doesn’t take a genius to work out who Kat’s husband is, there’s no need for nepotism when he breathes horror comedy like no other.  Colin Hoult is a natural fit for this festival, so its no surprise that he will be bringing a new edition of his semi-regular Real Horror Show to the celebrations on October 24th and 25th.

This selection of twisted plays follows rave reviews for previous entries, and the upgrade to the theatre’s Main House will give Colin and his cohorts ample space to create a wicked new set of misadventures.   He’ll be ably supported by another regular face on TVO, Anna Crilly, along with the equally brilliant Humphrey Ker, Tom Palmer, Thom Tuck, Will Andrews and Frisky & Mannish.

Tickets are available for the shows now, priced just £15, via The Leicester Square Theatre Box Office.

Zomedy

OCTOBER 30th

© AlleyKat Productions

Promising a night of the living laughs, mixed-bill night Zomedy on October 30th, again in the Main House, is sure not to disappoint.  With comedians dressed as the undead, this night of zombie based comedy may just end with an actual zombie breakout!

The line-up includes Rich Fulcher and Colin Hoult, alongside Frisky & Mannish, Ginger & Black, Danielle Ward, Keith Farnan and host Tiernan Douieb.  Looks like one delightful way of celebrating Devil’s Night, provided you don’t get bit…

Tickets are available for Zomedy now, priced just £15, via The Leicester Square Theatre Box Office.

Richard Sandling’s Perfect Movie

OCTOBER 31st

© Richard Sandling

Like films? Like comedy? You should already be a regular at Perfect Movie then!  Richard Sandling‘s regular club night returns for a Halloween spectacular in The Lounge on October 31st, promising very special guests, interviews, sketches, classic movie trailers, games and recreations of top comedian’s favourite film scenes jam packed into 75 minutes of film fun.

This time around, Richard’s guests include James Bachman and Gareth Tunely, along with Nick Helm, Preston Nyman. Eleanor Curry, Steve Pretty, Catharine Rodgers and more to be confirmed.  Looks like a corker to us!

Again, tickets are available now, priced £10, via The Leicester Square Theatre Box Office.  Richard will also be bringing Perfect Movie back to the venue on November 28th with special guests Phil Whelan, Robin Ince, Sarah Bennetto, Brett Goldstein and Ash Frith, and tickets can also be booked for that night over yonder.

Of course, there’s lots more to see at the festival, including comedy from The Beta Males, The Three Englishmen, The Voices In Your Head (featuring Sara Pascoe & Thom Tuck), Danielle Ward, Death Row Diva, Max & Ivan, Paul Gannon, Johnny & The Baptists, Nathan Dean Williams, School Of Fright, Bec Hill and cult nutters The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre.

With film screenings galore and new theatre productions too, including a new take on Dracula and the intriguing looking The Halloween Sessions featuring the work of Kim Newman and Stephen Volk amongst others, this is a festival any self respecting horror fan in the capital shouldn’t even dream of missing.

For more info on the full line up, visit The Leicester Square Theatre website now.

The NTA is Back!

24 Sep

© ITV

It’s that time of the year again when the cream of the small screen will gather for the National Televisions Awards.

As usual, the results are all down to us normal folk and some TVO-familiar names are waiting for your votes!

First up Never Mind the Buzzcocks is nominated for Best Comedy Panel Show and with the hype of the upcoming season, Buzzcocks should hopefully be fresh in all of your minds! Next up is the pivotal, Best Situation Comedy; with Gervais’ Life’s Too Short featuring Matthew Holness and Colin Hoult up for the award, they also battle it out with Rev; which cameod James Bachman, plus the latest series of Absolutely Fabulous which saw the likes of our very own Katy Wix and Lucy Montgomery making an appearance.

And that’s not all… with the somewhat less-than-alternative Not Going Out starring Katy Wix and ITV1 ultra-populist behemoth Benidorm featuring Shelley Longworth also up for the nod. They may all be up for the gong alongside the latest-show-to-never-rest-on-our-tv-screens; The Big Bang Theory – but we reckon one of our lot could be in with the chance, no?

As we click through the categories we get to the ‘Bacon-style’ number categories; where Harry Hill’s TV Burp (Spencer Millman) is up for best Entertainment Programme, plus Noel Fielding has made a guest appearance on several of the nominees in the same category; The Jonathan Ross Show, Alan Carr: Chattyman and of course, Dynamo: Magician Impossible.

The NTA’s will be airing live on ITV on January 23rd and you have until October 11th to vote. To cast your votes click right here and let us know what you think of this year’s nominees!

Surio McGillan’s Video Diary

6 Sep

© Peeder Jigson

The latest video diary from Peeder Jigson has been released, with the director taking a (debatably) well earned rest day in between filming his sprawling fantasy epic The Hubbard. 

With Peeder catching up on some sit-down time, he’s packed off comedian turned documentary film-maker (and surprisingly good Peeder lookalike) James Bachman to film with one of his stars, who he has nicknamed Surio McGillan.  We’re sure you can work out which Shakespearean actor is finding the shoot a bit stressful…

You can see the results exclusively on Funny Or Die now.

Bleak Expectations Tickets

5 Sep

© bbc.co.uk

Bleak Expectations, the spoof Victorian drama series, is returning to Radio 4 soon and you can be in the audience for the recordings. This series promises Shipwrecks, time machines, the Wild West, volcanoes, the Underworld and a
sinister new kind of cake! Previous series have involved Martians so you can see it’s not a typical Victorian drama.

The show, written by Mark Evans and starring Richard Johnson, Anthony Head, Tom Allen, James Bachman, Geoffrey Whitehead, Sarah Hadland and Susy Kane will be recorded on 25th September and 21st October at the BBC Radio Theatre and free tickets are available from  the BBC, but they are going fast so if you want one, apply now.

The television Victorian Spoof drama, Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, also written by Mark Evans, is coming out on DVD on November 12th. The radio and tv series are similar in style but set in completely different worlds. The DVD is available to pre-order from  TVO store.

Funny Fortnight Favourites: Beehive Remembered

19 Aug

© Tiger Aspect Television

During Channel 4′s Funny Fortnight, we thought it’d be a good idea to look back at some of the TVO related shows in their archives.

Here, our editor in chief turns his attention to oft-neglected sketch show Beehive, to see if it’s worthy of a reappraisal.

In December, 2008, a brand new sketch show aired on E4. If you blinked, you’d have missed it – as it’s five episodes were crammed into three nights and promptly forgotten about. Since then, there’s always been a stigma surrounding Beehive - not least amongst its stars. During a recent appearance on Richard Herring’s podcast, Australian stand-up Sarah Kendall was incredibly dismissive about the show, or at the very least, it’s treatment by the channel.  The dvd release of the series was rushed out not long after broadcast, and promptly forgotten about – it’s currently out of print, and is unlikely to get another run anytime soon.

Watching Beehive in retrospect, in some ways it’s difficult to see why it was buried away and forgotten about.  This is, after all, a funny show.  Yet at the same time, the shunting and dismissal is totally understandable given the way programming commissioners have moved towards broader, more mainstream entertainment, particularly at the time the show aired.

© Tiger Aspect Television

It is fair to say that Beehive is far from perfect. Certainly, this is a show that isn’t quite sure what it wants to be. Written mostly by its four stars, Alice Lowe, Barunka O’Shaughnessy, Clare Thomson and Kendall – it was described by Sarah as “shit that makes the four of us laugh”. As such, it’s a fusion of surrealistic moments, such as the alien going to the swimming baths, traditional sketches like the Aztecs taking all day to write a name, and some downright purile knob and fart jokes that prove once and for all women like crude humour just as much as men.

The most successful regular sequences are those set in the Beehive flat. Playing exaggerated versions of themselves, these sequences act like a French & Saunders white room for the 21st century – allowing the girls to be incredibly silly in the strangest possible ways, always grounded by the familiar surroundings. Thus, Sarah can recreate that scene from Aliens or become convinced she is Spiderman, Barunka can pretend to be a Speshul Robot for Claire’s birthday, and they can all get offended by the phrase: “Barunka is a bellend.” Continue reading →

Funny Fortnight Favourites!

13 Aug

© Channel 4

Details have emerged of the exact transmission times for much of the programming in Channel 4′s Funny Fortnight – which features a number of TVO faces in new productions and old favourites.

These include Julia Davis and Sharon Horgan in Bad Sugar, Matt Berry in Toast Of London  Kevin Eldon and Colin Hoult appearing in The Function Room and repeats of The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Brass Eye, Jam and more.

The season will also include new material from Vic & Bob and Harry Hill, archive programming long forgotten, stand-up from the likes of Steve Coogan, Lee Evans and Peter Kay, plus a count-down of the Top 30 Comedy Shows in the history of Channel 4.

© Talkback Productions

The special season starts this Thursday night (Aug 16th) with the broadcast of Peter Kay’s latest live show, followed by Phonejacker spin-off Verry Terry from Kayvan Novak.  The first TVO flavoured show crops up after these – with a repeat showing of the infamous Brass Eye at 11:30pm.

Not too long afterwards, the early hours of Friday 17th bring us a repeat of Russell Brand And Friends at 1:10am, which featured a memorable appearance from Paul Kaye as Mike Strutter.  Another Onion flavoured repeat comes along on Saturday night (Aug 18th) with another chance to see a firm favourite from The IT Crowd.  Series two opener The Work Outing is the chosen episode, which of course, was the one with the gay musical, the disabled toilet, and Richmond’s missing copy of Heat.

© Phil Fisk

Sunday evening (Aug 19th), sees the first new show to feature TVO faces, in the form of star-packed trad-sitcom The Function Room.  In this pilot episode, police officers hold a public meeting to discuss crime in the local area.  However, their plans for the event get derailed when it emerges local residents only want to talk about one thing – a notorious criminal with a highly offensive alias.

The Fucntion Room stars the legendary Kevin Eldon, League Of Gentlemen/Psyschoville star Reece Shearsmith, Fast Show favourite Simon Day, and The Vicar Of Dibley‘s James Fleet, alongside Paul Ritter, Daniel Rigby, Blake Harrison and our very own Colin Hoult!  Eldon portrays unflappable Inspector Marks, who wants to present a human face to the force, but is just a little bit weird.  Meanwhile Hoult and Josephine Bulter play local well-to-do couple Stuart & Marina, who effortlessly rub all the other locals up the wrong way.

A few hours later, early into Monday, Aug 20th, is a very rare chance to see a compilation episode of The 11 O’Clock Show from 1999.  The satirical news-based show was a breeding ground for comedic talent – launching the careers of Iain Lee, Daisy Donovan, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mackenzie Crook and Ricky Gervais.  It also brought to prominence Rich Hall’s blossoming UK career, and boasted a fine writing staff which included James Bachman, Rhys Thomas, Tony Way, Phil Whelans, Charlie Brooker and Stephen Merchant, and one of it’s associate producers was none other than Spencer Millman!

© Kuba Wierczorek

Monday 20th is, perhaps, the biggest night for Onion fans – starting with the première of Toast Of London at 10pm- written by Matt Berry and Arthur Matthews, and starring Matt alongside Robert Bathurst, Geoff McGivern,  Tracy-Ann Oberman and Lee Cornes.  With that fantastic cast behind it, the lineage of both it’s writers, and the hilarious preview clip which appeared online recently, we’ve marked this one down as a must-see.

© Dan Goldsmith

Not long afterwards, the repeats kick in, with a re-run of Steve Coogan‘s 1994 live show Live & Lewd at 11:40pm, preceded by a new introduction from the comic.  This is followed by a repeat episode of Chris Morris‘ dark and devious project Jam featuring Kevin Eldon and Julia Davies, followed by a very rare chance to see Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace back on our screens with the classic episode, Skipper The Eye-Child.

For those who don’t know, Darkplace aired not long before the first series of The Mighty Boosh, and this sci-fi horror spoof featuring Matthew Holness, Richard Ayoade, Alice Lowe, Matty Berry, Kim Noble, Stuart Silver and occasionally, Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding too {though not in this episode, sadly} was a golden nugget of genius which sorely deserves en-mass reappraisal.

Things go a little quiet on the Onion front for a while after that, beyond Friday night’s short editions of Baby Cow’s Comedy Blaps which will feature the voice of Steve Coogan, but with the promise of Julia Davies & Sharon Horgan‘s Bad Sugar, repeats of Anna & Katy, Star Stories  and Black Books, plus the countdown of Channel 4′s greatest comedy shows ever still to come at some point between the 25th and the 31st, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the schedules for any news worth shouting about.

In the meantime, enjoy the gallery of images from Bad Sugar below.  With the likes of Olivia Colman, Reece Shearsmith, Peter Serafinowicz, Greg Davis & Kayvan Novak joining Davis & Horgan, this is looking likely to be an absolute cracker!

Pleasant Discs

13 Aug

© 2|Entertain

Sky sitcom Mount Pleasant is set to return for a second series later this month, and it will be swiftly followed by a release of Series One on dvd this September.

The warm-hearted comedy starring Sally Lindsay, Liza Tarbuck and Pauline Collins was a big hit with audiences on the channel, and the first series featured TVO’s very own Alex Kirk in the regular role of Jim, whilst James Bachman had a recurring role as Richard.

You can pre-order the dvd from The Velvet Onion Amazon Store now, with an expected release date of September 3rd. To do so, just click right here now, like.

Blinkbox Booshdom!

6 Aug

© Copyright blinkbox Entertainment Limited.

Steve Coogan‘s sitcom Saxondale and anthology spoof Dr Terrible’s House Of Horrible are amongst a smattering of TVO favourites available to watch free online.

UK based video on demand service Blinkbox offers television and film from both sides of the pond to download or stream via pc, mac, games consoles, tablets and smart tv’s – and already offers a large back catalogue of programming for purchase.

This includes the TVO flavoured likes of The Mighty Boosh, Dead Boss, This Is Jinsey, Horrible Histories and Mongrels, and movies Come On Eileen, Weekender and The Boat That Rocked to name but a few.

Coogan’s work is well represented on the site, from films such as Tropic Thunder and Hot Fuzz (also featuring our very own Alice Lowe), and the televisual adventures of one Alan Partridge.

Now as part of a deal with the BBC, a number of comedy classics are available to stream free of charge.

These include Saxondale – which also featured Matt Berry, James Bachman and Tom Meeten, and underrated spoof Dr Terrible - featuring Julia Davis.

© BBC

Also up for free viewing is criminally ignored sitcom Lab Rats featuring Dan Tetsell alongside Chris Addison and Dead Boss star Geoffrey McGivern.

You can also take another look at Rob Brydon’s Annually Retentive which co-stars Sharon Horgan and Alice Lowe, or That Mitchell And Web Look featuring James Bachman.

For something a little bit more ‘out there’, you can also catch rarely seen French animation series A Town Called Panic – which included Lucy Montgomery and Alexander Armstrong in it’s English dub cast.

To browse the full Blinkbox catalogue, click on any of the links above, or be really obvious and fall onto it’s home page via the word Battenberg - and of course, almost all of these shows, and more, can still be purchased the good old fashioned way on dvd and blu-ray via THE VELVET ONION AMAZON STORE!

Peedcast

1 Aug

This month’s edition of the EMPIRE Podcast features none other than acclaimed director Peter Jackson talking about his upcoming three part feature The Hobbit. Oh wait, it’s actually Peeder Jigson talking about his even more ambitious seven part epic, The Hubbard.

In the podcast Jigson (who sounds awfully like James Bachman putting on a funny accent) reveals details about the first part of the series, titled Bilbo Gets Dressed and with scenes including the soon to classic “putting his left arm in the shirt” it’s clear that this is set to be one of the most talked about movies of the year.

The Hubbard has also been given a new poster which you can see below.

© Peeder Jigson

The podcast can be found on the official EMPIRE website. In other news production on The Hobbit by a Peeder Jigson imposter continues, but we all know not to expect too much from that, right?

The Perfect Movie

22 Jul

© Leicester Square Theatre

Richard Sandling will be hosting a Booshdom-packed evening at Leicester Square Theatre in August!

Perfect Movie will be bringing a unique comedy spin to film reviews, interviews, trailers and much more.

With Sandling having extensive experience with film reviews and writing, combined with his stellar comedy performances, this is bound to be an evening that shant disappoint.

If that wasn’t enough, he’ll be joined by Steve Oram, James Bachman, Colin Hoult, Gareth Tunley! Plus Nathaniel Metcalfe, Jamie Glassman and Paul Gannon.

Whether you’re film aficionado, a comedy fan or just up for a night out, then this could be right up your street.

Head to Leicester Square Theatre on August 1st, tickets can be bought right here and we shall see you there!

Funny Fortnight Forthcoming!

20 Jul

© Channel 4

Channel 4 have released more details of their Funny Fortnight next month, which features more than a smattering of TVO regulars and influences.

Over 30 hours of programming across two weeks of television, the season promises brand new shows, excellent stand up and familiar faces staging their returns to the channel.

A new video preview over on the Channel 4 press website showcases highlights from some of the channel’s flagship shows, and offers an exclusive look at a number of exciting specials.

© Tiger Aspect Productions

Amongst these new shows is Bad Sugar - written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong of Peep Show and Four Lions fame.  It combines three of comedy’s biggest names of the moment - Julia Davis, Sharon Horgan and Olivia Colman, and centres on a dysfunctional, wealthy mining dynasty, with an ailing patriarch and some greedy siblings.

The show also stars David Bradley, Peter Serafinowicz, Kayvan Novak and Reece Shearsmith, and it’s producer is Derren Schlesinger – who was previously responsible for both Four Lions and Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy.  Undoubtedly one of the most exciting shows on telly in some time, this Tiger Aspect Productions show has real potential to be a smash hit.

© Objective Productions

Also set to première is Toast Of London, the new sitcom pilot by Matt Berry and Father Ted/Big Train creator Arthur Matthews.  Matt stars as successful actor Steven Toast, who has recently made a career faux pass by electing to star in a controversial west end stage play.

Recently divorced, and attacked in the street by members of appalled public, the previously much loved actor auditions for a role in the long running television series, Inspector Somerset.  However, it’s producer has been imprisoned for racial chanting on set, so Toast auditions for the part of a gay corrupt detective during prisoner’s visiting time.  Made by Objective Productions, we’re keen to see if this show lives up to its potential.

Other new shows include: Them From That Thing  – a two part sketch show featuring Kayvan Novak, Sally Phillips and many more, co-written by one Charlie Brooker; The Function Room - a traditional looking sitcom featuring the likes of Reece Shearsmith, Kevin Eldon, Simon Day and James Fleet; Lucky Sexy Winners - a new panel show from Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer; Very Terry - a Phonejacker spin off from Kayvan Novak focusing on car salesman Terry Tibbs; Harry Hill: The Reunion - in which the madcap comic seeks out the cast of his old Channel 4 show to find out “where are they now?”; The Boyle Variety Performance  – a spoof of the annual royal-attended show from Frankie Boyle; Just Around The Corner  – from the creators of Drop The Dead Donkey; and I’m Spazticus  - a prank show featuring disabled performers which has been seven years in development since its pilot aired in 2005.

© Avalon Productions

And that’s not all!  As we previously reported, Channel 4 are counting down their 30 Greatest Comedy Shows, which will feature the Onion flavoured vehicles Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, The IT Crowd, Brass Eye, Father Ted, Star Stories, Spaced, Black Books, and Friday Night Dinner. 

These classics will be up against the likes of The Comic Strip Presents, Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out, The Adam & Joe Show,  Da Ali G Show, Trigger Happy TV, Pheonix Nights, Bo’ Selecta!, Peep Show, Green Wing and The Inbetweeners and more.

© Talkback Thames

The channel have also turned to the writers of classic shows to name their favourite episodes, which will air across the fortnight.  These include Graham Linehan‘s favourite ever The IT Crowd  and Father Ted; Chris Morris‘s legendary Brass Eye; mockumentary series Star Stories which featured Fergus Craig, Alice Lowe, Tom Meeten, Laura Patch, Rhys Thomas and Dolly Wells in it’s expansive cast; plus episodes of Spaced, The Inbetweeners, Peep Show and Vic Reeves Big Night Out.

There’s also a chance to catch tv premieres of live shows from Alan Carr, Peter Kay, Lee Evans and Micky Flanagan, plus the early and rare Vic & Bob special The Weekenders, Harry Endfield one-off Norbert Smith: A Life and Peter Cook’s interview with Clive Anderson, plus editions of Comedy Labs featuring Dynamo, Peter Kay, Karl Pilkington and TVO’s very own Anna And Katy!  Plus we’ll still have The Midnight Beast featuring Simon Farnaby every Thursday too!

Phew – we think we’ll need a lie-down after all that!  Exciting times indeed.  We’ll aim to bring you a complete run-down of exactly when each show will air as soon as possible, so stay peeled.  In the mean time, check out the video preview over on the Channel 4 press website – and you can pick up a string of Channel 4 classics in The Velvet Onion Amazon Store.

More Perfect Movies

1 Jul

© Richard Sandling

The next Richard Sandling’s Perfect Movie show is on 1st August and has an impressive line-up of guests, including five who feature regularly on our pages!

As well as Richard Sandling himself, the guests include Colin Hoult, Gareth Tunley, James Bachman, Steve Oram, Nathaniel Metcalfe, Jamie Glassman and Paul Gannon.

The show starts at 7.30pm and to find out more and keep up to date with the guest list, see the Facebook Event Page.  If you don’t have Facebook or just want to buy tickets (£10) you can go straight to the Leicester Square Theatre website.

To see snippets of Richard, Gareth and Steve at TVO Live! click here.

TVO Live! The Aftermath of a Vandella Velveting…

2 Jun

You knew it was coming – but Thursday May 31st saw The Velvet Onion put on our very first live night, at the incredible new Shepherd’s Bush venue, The Vandella.

With a smattering of stars in the audience, and a VIP lounge so filled with comedy legends several people’s heads may have exploded, it was always going to be a special night – and the challenge for us was cramming so many fabulous names onto one bill.

Now, we’re a little biased, but we have to admit, it went rather well indeed – and judging by the post-show reaction everyone such a great time by the time Team TVO left the building we’d discussed coming back to do another, several times over!

The night was such an intimate affair that we knew deep down the vast majority of our Peelers would never be able to be there – but rest assured, we recorded the entire show in glorious high definition, multi camera action, and we’ll be cutting it together over the summer for a potential Autumn release – all online, all free, and for a limited period only – so stay peeled to be kept in the loop on that one.

In the meantime, we’ll be bringing you teaser footage as soon as we can, and we have a huge array of photographs of the evening for you to savour too.  The first batch are all included below, so enjoy them safe in the knowledge that, all being well, their teasing nature will be fulfilled later this year.

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We’d like to extend our huge thanks to everyone involved with putting on the night – especially to the sheer wonderment of Bob Pipe for his technical expertise and the living legend that is James Wren for all of his support throughout this whole process.  We’d also like to thank Sian Salsbury and everyone at The Vandella who have been the most accommodating team we could have ever hoped to have worked with – and our very hard working camera crew: Michael Bull, Jon Burgess, Michael Glynn!  Not to mention everyone who helped out on the day as friends of us all.

And of course, we really must thank our glorious guests, who all worked hard, played hard, and made us love them even more than we did before.  In order of appearance, our deepest, and more sincere thanks to: Mike Fielding, Dave Brown, Antony Elvin, Will Summers, Gareth Tunley, Alex Kirk, Dolly Wells, Laura Patch, Richard Glover, Stephen Evans, Holly Jane Shears, Suzy Evelyn-Hall, Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Tom Meeten, David McNeill, Dan Tetsell, Waen Shepherd, Rachel Stubbings, Richard Sandling and James Cook.

We’d also like to extend our thanks to those who couldn’t make it in the end, but we know wanted to be there – in particular Joey Page for trying to the very last moment to get there, and both James Bachman and Lucy Montgomery whose enormous workloads stood in their way.  Extra special thanks must also go to the legendary Rich Fulcher, who was drawn away for a charity event but still found the time to record incredible last minute voice overs to introduce each artist.

Finally, we’d like to thank everyone who came along to support us and the artists on the bill.  You are the reason we’re able to keep doing what we’re doing to help the people you admire, and we’ll go on for as long as you’ll all have us.  Until the next time… keep peeling!

Peeder’s Blues

13 Apr

A brand new instalment of Peeder Jigson’s The Hobbit video diaries is now online, in which the director gets his first look at the special effects sound-stage designed for the film.

Peeder, who appears to be in cohorts with James Bachman, doesn’t seem best pleased in this edition, as technicians with startling likenesses to Gareth Tunley and Tony Way appear to be hindering his vision.

Take a looksee at the results below.

Speaking of Bachman & Tunley, of course – the pair are set to appear at The Velvet Onion Live on May 31st, and we’re working on persuading the elusive Jigson to take time out of his hectic schedule to make an appearance. Stay peeled for more info… and you can see more of Peeder’s video diaries over yonder.

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