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Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive
''Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive'' is a British radio comedy programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2005 with a second series in 2006, a third in 2007 and a fourth in 2008. Series 2, 3 and 4 of the show were broadcast in the popular Friday evening slot, which it has shared with ''The News Quiz'' and ''The Now Show''. It is hosted by comedian Armando Iannucci and each week a panel of fellow comedians make satirical and surreal observations on current events. Vaughan Savidge provides voice overs. Guests have included Will Smith (also co-writer) and Clive Anderson (six presences), Phill Jupitus, Jo Brand, Dave Gorman, Simon Evans and Mark Watson (three presences). In April 2007, Series 2 was awarded a Sony Radio Award in the comedy category. The judges said: "Making comedy programmes out of current affairs topics is a well-populated genre. The judges felt that this was a great example of brilliant observation with surreal twists, taking the listener on an un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing ''agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Doody
Nick Doody (born 1972 in Shipley, West Yorkshire) is a British stand-up comedian. Doody featured as a guest on vox-pop television shows and radio broadcasts such as '' Political Animal''. He wrote for the television series '' FAQ U'', featured on ''The Mark Thomas Comedy Product'', and was a finalist on Channel Four's 1997 ''So You Think You're Funny'' competition. He was commissioned to write a study of American comedian Bill Hicks, ''Telling the Truth, Laughing: The Life and Works of Bill Hicks'' following his gigging with Hicks in 1992. In 2006 Doody performed his first solo Edinburgh Show ''Before He Kills Again'' and made an appearance at Download festival. He has appeared on ''The Comic Side of 7 Days'' on BBC Three, and has written for ''8 out of 10 Cats'', '' The Late Edition'' (BBC Four), ''The Now Show'' (BBC Radio 4), ''Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive'' (BBC Radio 4). He appeared on ''The World Stands Up'' for BBC America and Paramount in the UK, and on ''Edinburg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Sessions
John Marshall (11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020), better known by the stage name John Sessions, was a British actor and comedian. He was known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as a panellist on '' QI'', and as a character actor in numerous films, both in the UK and Hollywood. Early life John Sessions was born John Marshall on 11 January 1953, according to most sources in Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland. His family moved to Bedford, England, when he was three. His father was a gas engineer. He had an older brother, Bill, and a twin sister, Maggie. Education Sessions was educated at Bedford Modern School, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), and Verulam School, St Albans, followed by the University College of North Wales in Bangor, from which he graduated with an MA in English literature. At university, he had begun to appear to audiences with his comedy in shows such as "Look back in Bangor" and "Marshall Arts". H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Oliver
John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention for his work in the United States on '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' as its senior British correspondent from 2006 to 2013. Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards for writing for ''The Daily Show'' and was the show's guest host for an eight-week period in 2013. In addition, Oliver co-hosted the satirical comedy podcast ''The Bugle'' (2007–2015) with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously co-hosted the radio series '' Political Animal'', and hosted '' John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show'' on Comedy Central from 2010 to 2013. He has also acted on television, most notably in a recurring role as Professor Ian Duncan on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', and in films, notably voice-over work in '' The Smurfs'' (2011), '' The Smurf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Mitchell (comedian)
David James Stuart Mitchell (born 14 July 1974) is a British comedian, actor, writer and television personality. He is part of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb. Mitchell and Webb starred in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Peep Show'', in which Mitchell plays Mark Corrigan. Mitchell won the British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Performance in 2009 for his performance. The duo have written and starred in several sketch shows including '' Bruiser'', '' The Mitchell and Webb Situation'', '' That Mitchell and Webb Sound'' and also '' That Mitchell and Webb Look''. The pair also starred in the UK version of Apple's " Get a Mac" advertising campaign. Their first film, '' Magicians'', was released in 2007. In 2013, the duo starred in the short-lived TV series ''Ambassadors''. Since 2017, Mitchell has starred in the Channel 4 comedy-drama '' Back,'' alongside Webb. Mitchell starred as Owen in '' Think the Unthinkable'', and in the Ben Elton-penned BBC Two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Langham
Christopher Langham (born 14 April 1949) is an English writer, actor, and comedian. He is known for playing the cabinet minister Hugh Abbot in the BBC sitcom ''The Thick of It'', and as presenter Roy Mallard in '' People Like Us'', first on BBC Radio 4 and later on its transfer to television on BBC Two, where Mallard is almost entirely an unseen character. He subsequently created several spoof advertisements in the same vein. He also played similar unseen interviewers in an episode of the television series '' Happy Families'' and in the film '' The Big Tease''. He is also known for his roles in the television series ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'', '' Help'', and '' Kiss Me Kate'', and as the gatehouse guard in ''Chelmsford 123''. In 2006, he won BAFTA awards for ''The Thick of It'' and ''Help''. On 2 August 2007, Langham was found guilty of 15 charges of downloading and possessing level 5 child sexual abuse images and videos. Langham was jailed for 10 months, reduced to 6 mont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Zaltzman
Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian and author who largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including '' Political Animal'', ''The Department'', and ''The Bugle''. Since 2016 he has been a statistician for BBC Radio's '' Test Match Special'' cricket commentaries, and since 2020 the presenter of Radio 4's ''The News Quiz. Early life Born in Hammersmith, west London, Zaltzman is of Lithuanian-Jewish ancestry. He is the son of South African sculptor Zack Zaltzman and is the older brother of Helen Zaltzman, of ''The Allusionist'' and '' Answer Me This!'' podcasts. From his prep school, Holmewood House School in Langton Green, Kent, he then attended the private Tonbridge School. He graduated in Classics at University College, Oxford. While at university, Zaltzman was sports editor for '' The Oxford Student''. Career Stand-up Edinburgh Festival Fringe Zaltzman first performed at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexei Sayle
Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic of all time on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007. In an updated 2010 poll he came 72nd. Much of Sayle's humour is in the tradition of Spike Milligan and Monty Python, with riffs based on often absurd and surreal premises. His act is known for its cynicism and political awareness, as well as physical comedy. Early life Sayle was born and brought up in the Anfield suburb of Liverpool, the son of Molly (Malka) Sayle (née Mendelson), a pools clerk, and Joseph Henry Sayle, a railway guard, both of whom were members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Sayle's mother was of Lithuanian Jewish descent, and some members of his family were devout Jews. From 1964 to 1969, he attended Alsop High School in Walt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pozzitive Television
Pozzitive Television is a production company formed by producers Geoff Posner and David Tyler in 1992. Pozzitive have won awards including six BAFTAs, two Golden Roses at Montreux, multiple British Comedy & RTS awards, seven Sony Awards and two International Emmys. About Pozzitive Television was founded by Geoff Posner & David Tyler. Since then, Pozzitive has worked with major comic talent in the UK, including Victoria Wood, Steve Coogan, and Armando Iannucci. Pozzitive has earned a reputation as one of the leading indie production companies in the UK - from producing the very first independent comedy ever to air on Radio 4, Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation, to the recent success of Cabin Pressure, which became the first radio sitcom to be named 'Comedy of the Year' in 2014. Recent productions Radio *'' The 3rd Degree'', series 1–10, 2010–2020. *''Agendum'', series 1–2, 2017-2019 *'' British Troll Farm'', pilot, 2019 *'' Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off... ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Tyler (producer)
David Tyler (born 24 June 1961) is a British television and radio comedy producer, executive producer, and director. He is co-founder of the independent production company Pozzitive Television, which he set up in 1992 with Geoff Posner. Pozzitive Television Since the founding of Pozzitive Television, Tyler has been responsible for working on various British comedy programmes. The shows that he has worked on have won numerous awards including several BAFTAs, two Golden Roses and a silver Rose d'Or at the Rose d'Or awards in Montreux, seven Sony Awards, and multiple Comedy.co.uk and RTS awards. His credits include BBC Two sitcom '' Three Fights, Two Weddings and a Funeral'', which won the 1994 BAFTA for Best Comedy (Programme or Series); the BBC Radio 4 stand-up comedy show ''Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation'', which was the first full-fledged comedy show from an independent production company for Radio 4, and won a bronze Sony Award in 1995; Victoria Wood's televisio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jon Holmes
Jon Holmes (born 24 April 1973) is a British comedian, writer, presenter and broadcaster known for his work on such programmes as ''The Now Show'', '' Listen Against'' (for BBC Radio 4), along with both music and spoken word radio. He has appeared on numerous television programmes. Early life Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Holmes was raised in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Holmes was adopted when he was aged one month. He attended Canterbury Christ Church College, where he graduated with a joint degree in English with radio, film and television. He became involved with university radio station ''C4 Radio'' and also wrote, directed and performed in various student revue shows; he became a presenter on Canterbury's local radio station KMFM Canterbury (then CTFM). Career After graduation, Holmes's first foray into BBC radio comedy was for BBC Radio 4 with his debut comedy series ''Grievous Bodily Radio'' in 1997. He also had a show on Power FM on Sunday nights. The ''Jon & Andy Sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Will Smith (comedian)
William James Smith (born 8 June 1971) is an English stand-up comedian, screenwriter, novelist, actor and producer. As co-writer and co-producer of the HBO sitcom ''Veep'', he was among the recipients of two Emmys and two Writers Guild of America Awards, and has received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Episodic Comedy. Early life and education Though born in Winchester, Hampshire, Smith grew up in Jersey and was educated there at Victoria College. His brother is the TV presenter and wine critic Olly Smith. Stand up comedy Smith started his career in stand-up comedy, winning awards including Chortle Best Headliner 2005 and Time Out Comedy 2004. One critic called him 'the Hugh Grant of comedy', and he appeared on '' The 11 O'Clock Show'' with Sacha Baron Cohen and Ricky Gervais as the character 'Posh Boy'. He took solo shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival every ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
