British ‘panel shows’ showcase brilliant wit of UK comedians

After spending the last week in the UK, I had the great good fortune to be reminded on a nightly basis of the extent to which British comedy is far superior to American comedy. That point was driven home by having the opportunity to watch endless latenight broadcasts of panel shows on Dave (the home of witty-banter […]

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Bill Bailey wins ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ 2020 — Who knew ‘Manny Biannco’ could dance?

A very familiar face (i.e. Bill Bailey) is taking home the Glitterball trophy from the 2020 Strictly Come Dancing competition which just concluded Saturday evening in the UK. The awesome thing is, that the familiar face to most people in North America comes from his time on the brilliant Dylan Moran comedy, Black Books. Bill Bailey was equally as […]

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Happy 63rd, Rowan Atkinson!

Rowan Atkinson, English actor, comedian, and screenwriter turned 63 on Saturday. While best known to audiences for his work on the sitcoms Blackadder and Mr. Bean, I first stumbled upon Atkinson’s brilliant talent in the BBC2 sketch comedy series, Not the Nine O’Clock News. Airing from 1979-1982, the series featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture […]

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‘Upstart Crow’ with David Mitchell continues #Shakespeare400 celebration

Peep Show star and one-half of the comedy duo of Mitchell and Webb, David Mitchell, stars as William Shakespeare in a new 6-part BBC2 sitcom written and produced by Ben Elton (The Young Ones, Blackadder, The Thin Blue Line). Focusing on the playwright’s life before he became famous, the storyline for Upstart Crow, revolves around Shakespeare’s personal and professional life and the rather […]

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Stephen Fry passes the ‘QI’ mantle at the alphabet’s halfway point

As they hit the halfway point of the alphabet, QI, (which stands for Quite Interesting), is losing its long-time host, the brilliant Stephen Fry (insert sad-face here). While Fry’s final series begins tonight at 10p on BBC2, when series 14 begins filming in the Spring/Summer of 2016, Sandi Toksvig will be charged with the herculean […]

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‘QI’ (Quite Interesting) headed to America…finally

According to the British Comedy Guide, the long-running British ‘panel/quiz’ show, QI (which stands for Quite Interesting), is finally headed to America for broadcast. Hosted by Stephen Fry and co-starring resident panelist Alan Davies (Jonathan Creek), the series has had its challenges in years past crossing the Atlantic, largely due to rights issues with the images […]

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It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas – QI style

If you adhere to the QI principle that everything in the Universe is interesting if looked at closely enough, for long enough, or from the right angle, you’ll go far in the world. The QI empire, with the BBC television series as its centerpiece, was created by former BBC writer and producer, John Lloyd and […]

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Just 'How long IS a piece of string'?

Sounds like a simple question, right? Simple question = simple answer, right? All you have to do is measure it. But, it’s possible that we take the simple practice of measurement for granted. Imagine a world without it. No distance, no time, no weight, no mass. Not so simple now, you might be saying. If […]

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Graham Norton anyone? Maybe WILTY? 10 O'Clock Live maybe?

Ever planned a trip to New York or Los Angeles, business or vacation, and part of the planning centered around trying to be in the studio audience for your favorite game show or talk show such as Dave or Conan? Full disclosure before we go any further. I’m guilty having been in the studio audience […]

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Goodbye New Orleans and remembering Graham Crowden

As we leave New Orleans (insert sniff here) and this year’s BBC Syndication Showcase, we learned of some sad news from the world of British comedy that Graham Crowden, known to many as Tom Ballard in Waiting for God, had passed away yesterday at the age of 87. Remembering Graham Crowden We were extremely fortunate […]

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