Alex Finch

Back in 2005 writer / actor Tim Plester and director Ben Gregor got together a pretty damn impressive cast which included Martin Freeman, Mark Heap, Mackenzie Crook, Johnny Vegas, Raquel Cassidy and Susan Earl to make a homage to the much loved seventies and eighties sci-fi show Nothing much really happens apart from they pick on Vila (Martin Freeman, fairly poor and playing it in the same way that he did with most of his 2000’s sitcom roles as slightly hesitant and bland), get something to eat, accidentally destroy Orac (voiced as he was in the series by Peter Tuddenham) and then play on some arcade games before buggering off. Servelan (Mackenzie Crook, who plays it a little too subtly) is also present but either she doesn’t notice that the space outlaws are present or doesn’t care, and the only notable thing that happens is that Avon (Mark Heap, who’s fine but nothing more than that) bumps in to former leader Blake (Johnny Vegas, the best of the lot) in the toilets and they have a brief, strained chat where Blake obviously misses being with Avon but the latter really doesn’t want to reunite with him. None of the actors (bar Peter Tuddenham) attempt to emulate the characters they’re portraying and mostly seem to be playing variations on themselves or their best known characters and this seems a major misstep as they could have had a lot of fun being much sillier, and though Mackenzie Crook looks the part it’s strange that his is such a bland take on what was a deliciously camp villain.

Not many comedians have a story quite like Milo Edwards as he started out in the Cambridge Footlights before heading over to Russia and performing comedy over there for three years. I’d say that in Russia they have a fundamentally similar sense of humour to Brits in that it can be quite dry and dark, but there’s a major differences when it comes to doing live comedy: firstly stand-up has only really existed there for about 5 years and what stand-up is is still mostly defined by one TV show (which I was on) so if you’re trying to do anything too modern, unusual or that wouldn’t be allowed on TV you can lose a crowd. and there’s certainly no swearing, but live you can more or less do what you want unless it’s completely incomprehensible for cultural reasons, although you might get told off by some old lady afterwards (as has happened to me more than once). It’s definitely getting more difficult to live there as a foreigner administratively and whilst I wouldn’t say it’s dangerous, it’s definitely getting sketchier.

Here he talks about his new show What A Man, What A Man, What A Man, What A Mighty Good Man what it’s like writing for The Mash Report, The News Quiz and The Now Show, the sitcoms he’s written, and the time Tom Hanks was responsible for changing his working hours. CTW: What can you tell us about your new show What A Man, What A Man, What A Man, What A Mighty Good Man And is the process any different when it comes to radio comedy like The News Quiz and The Now Show?

You can see his show at the Edinburgh Festival at Just the Tonic at The Charteris Centre (Just The Sanctum) at 14:00 from the 1st – 25th Aug (not 12), and ticket details are here: This superb stand up and the man behind Anna Mann regularly tours and performs in London, further info is on his site: https://www.colinhoult.net/ Reginald D. Hunter – Hunter’s touring Facing The Beast in June across the country – Star of Live at the Apollo and Comedy Central at The Comedy Store, multi-award-winning comedian Chris McCausland is taking his smash hit Edinburgh Fringe show, Speaky Blinder, around the country for his debut national tour. https://www.mickperrin.com/tours/adam-riches-experience/ John Robertson – Is playing across the country in the coming months, you can find out if he’s gigging near you here: https://www.thejohnrobertson.com/livedates/ John Robins – John’s new show Hot Shame is debuting at the Edinburgh Festival and then can be seen across the country from September to November.