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Now Show
''The Now Show'' is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the week's news. The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. The show used to feature regular appearances by Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin (earlier series had Emma Kennedy, or occasionally Sue Perkins, for the female voices), a monologue by Marcus Brigstocke, and music by Mitch Benn, Pippa Evans or Adam Kay, but now features a much wider range of contributors. Most episodes will feature a special guest. Past guests include Robin Ince, Rory Bremner, Dave Gorman, Simon Munnery, Al Murray, Andy Zaltzman, Paul Sinha, Richard Stilgoe, Dr Phil Hammond, Barry Cryer, John Finnemore, Andy Parsons, Shappi Khorsandi, Nathan Caton, Grace Petrie, Sarah Kendall and Francesca Martinez. Jon Culshaw has featured on the 2004 and 2005 Christmas editions and also starred in the 2008 Christmas edition. Guests have also stood in for absent cast members. The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Dennis
Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, presenter, actor, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist who has appeared in the comedy double act Punt and Dennis with partner Steve Punt. He played Dr Piers Crispin in the sitcom '' My Hero'' from 2000 to 2006, Pete Brockman, the father in the sitcom '' Outnumbered'', and since 2014 has played Toby in the long-running sitcom '' Not Going Out'', all for BBC One. From 2020 he has indulged his long-standing love of geography and social history by presenting the light-hearted community archaeology television show '' The Great British Dig'' on Channel 4. From 2005 to 2022, Dennis appeared as a regular panellist on the BBC Two satirical comedy show '' Mock the Week'', appearing in every episode in the show’s run. Early life Dennis was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, the younger son of school teacher Dorothy Mary (Hinnels) and John Dennis, an Anglican priest. His brother, also named John, was the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Ince
Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show '' The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career. Education After attending York House prep school, near Croxley Green in Hertfordshire, Ince was, from age 13, educated at Cheltenham College, a boarding independent school for boys in the spa town Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, followed by Royal Holloway, University of London, from which he graduated in English and Drama in 1991. Career Stand-up comedy In 1990, Ince first appeared at Greyfriars Kirkhouse at the Edinburgh Festival where Eddie Izzard was running a venue. At the time Ince was performing in a play called 'Shadow Walker' by Trevor Maynard. He had appeared at the Cafe Royal as part of the Edinburgh Fringe show 'Rubbernecker' alongside Stephen Merchant, Jimmy Carr and Ricky Gervais in 2001. As a friend of Ricky Gervais, Ince opened as a support act for his ''P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathan Caton
Nathan Junior Caton (born 2 November 1984) is an English comedian. Early life Caton was born in Hammersmith, London and raised in the West London town of Greenford. He has a younger brother who is accredited to some of Caton's early jokes. He became interested in comedy while doing A Level drama at Richmond upon Thames College and continued the interest whilst an architecture student at Anglia Ruskin University. In 2005 he won the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year award. He was the first in his family to graduate from university but chose to pursue comedy full-time, much to his parents' initial disappointment. Caton is a Brentford fan. Career Caton appeared on ITV's ''Comedy Cuts'' in 2007 after appearing at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2012, he did a tour called "Get Rich or Die Cryin'". He has also written for the children's series ''Rastamouse''. Also in 2012, he wrote and appeared in the Radio Four series ''Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing'', looking at his own life involvin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shappi Khorsandi
Shaparak Khorsandi ( fa, شاپرک خرسندی, born 8 June 1973), formerly known as Shappi Khorsandi, is an Iranian-born British comedian and author. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi. Her family left Iran for the United Kingdom following the Islamic Revolution. In January 2016, she became President of Humanists UK and Vice-President in 2019. Her second book and first novel, ''Nina is Not OK'', was published in 2016. Background and early life Shaparak Khorsandi ( fa, شاپرک خرسندی) was born on 8 June 1973 in Tehran. Her parents were Fatemah, and the satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi. The family fled from Iran to London after the Islamic Revolution following a joke that her father composed which was seen as critical of the revolutionary regime. Khorsandi graduated from King Alfred's College, now the University of Winchester, in 1995, with a degree in Drama, Theatre and Television. After graduating, she worked in various ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Parsons
Andrew John Parsons (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian and writer. He regularly appeared on ''Mock the Week'' from Series 3 to Series 14. With comedy partner Henry Naylor, he has written and presented nine series of '' Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections'' for BBC Radio 2. Early life Parsons was born in Weymouth, Dorset. He attended Parc Eglos Primary School, Helston Comprehensive School in Cornwall and Churston Ferrers Grammar School, Torbay (Devon) before going to Christ's College, Cambridge to study Law, where he met and formed a double act with Henry Naylor which twice toured with the National Student Theatre Company and once with the Footlights. After completing his studies, Parsons got a job working as a legal clerk on a case at the Greenock shipyards, which he describes as "the most tedious thing I'd ever done." With Naylor he established TBA, London's first sketch comedy club. Writing/television His first TV writing job was for ''Spitting Image'' and he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Finnemore (writer)
John David Finnemore (born 28 September 1977) is a British comedy writer and actor. He wrote and performed in the radio series '' Cabin Pressure'', '' John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme'', and ''John Finnemore's Double Acts'', and frequently features in other BBC Radio 4 comedy shows such as ''The Now Show''. Finnemore has won more Comedy.co.uk awards than any other writer, and two of his shows appear in the top ten of the ''Radio Times'' list of greatest ever radio comedies. Early life and education John Finnemore was born in Reading to parents David and Patricia and has a younger sister, Anna. He attended Dolphin School in Berkshire, High Lea in Dorset and Poole Grammar School. At 19, he moved to Kraków in Poland, where he spent 6 months teaching English. He then studied English at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he wrote his dissertation on Thomas Hardy ('Icons, Frames and Freedom in Jude the Obscure') and graduated in 2000. He was a member of the Cambridge Footlights, be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Cryer
Barry Charles Cryer (23 March 1935 – 25 January 2022) was an English writer, comedian, and actor. As well as performing on stage, radio and television, Cryer wrote for many performers including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory Bremner, George Burns, Jasper Carrott, Tommy Cooper, Ronnie Corbett, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, Kenny Everett, Bruce Forsyth, David Frost, Bob Hope, Frankie Howerd, Richard Pryor, Spike Milligan, Mike Yarwood, '' The Two Ronnies'' and Morecambe and Wise. Early life Cryer was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to John Cryer, an accountant, who died when Barry was five, and his wife, Jean. After an education at Leeds Grammar School, he began studying English literature at the University of Leeds. He later described himself as a university dropout: "I was supposed to be studying English Literature at Leeds, but I was in the bar and chasing girls and my first-year results showed it. So I'm 'BA Eng. Lit. failed' of Leeds. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Hammond (comedian)
Philip James Hammond (born 1 January 1962) is a British physician, broadcaster, comedian and commentator on health issues in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his humorous commentary on the National Health Service. He first came into the public spotlight writing a column for ''The Independent'' newspaper, where he wrote with a strong pro- patient rights line and as ''Private Eye''s medical correspondent "MD". Early life and education Hammond lived in Australia until the age of seven when his Australian father, Barrie Rees Hammond, Ph.D, a Cambridge-educated physical chemist, killed himself at the age of 38. His English mother moved the family back to England. Hammond was educated at Marlborough Royal Free Grammar School until its closure in 1975, then at its successor St John's Comprehensive, before obtaining a place at Marlborough College as his father had taught there. Hammond qualified as a doctor in 1987, having studied at Girton College, Cambridge and St Thomas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Stilgoe
Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Peter Skellern. He is also a keen puzzler who has hosted several quiz shows and written several books on the subject. Stilgoe is also notable for his charity work and fundraising. In the 1980s he founded the Alchemy Foundation which is funded from his royalties from the American productions of ''Starlight Express'' and ''The Phantom of the Opera''. He is patron of the Surrey Care Trust in Woking. In the late 1990s he founded the Orpheus Centre which offers performing arts experiences to young people with disabilities. In 2012, Stilgoe was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his extensive charity work. Early life Stilgoe was born in Camberley, Surrey, on 28 March 1943. He was brought up in Liverpool, where, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Sinha
Supriya Kumar "Paul" Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is a British quizzer, comedian, doctor and broadcaster. He has written and performed extensively on Radio 4, and is one of the six Chasers on the ITV game show '' The Chase''. Early life Supriya Kumar Sinha was born on 28 May 1970. He was educated at Dulwich College and St George's Hospital Medical School. Sinha is a former general practitioner, qualifying in the 1990s. While at medical school he developed a taste for the stage in St George's annual revue and refined his comedy as co-editor of the medical school newsletter, popularly known as the ''Slag Mag''. Career Stand-up comedy Sinha began performing stand-up while working as a junior doctor in hospitals in London and King's Lynn. His early material drew on his sexuality and ethnicity, with heavy use of puns. In 1999, he came third in the final of the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year. After several years of combining touring with his nascent medical career, Sinha's brea ... [...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] |
Al Murray
Alastair James Hay Murray (born 10 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor, musician and writer from Hammersmith. In 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and in 2007 he was voted the 16th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's ''100 Greatest Stand-Ups.'' Murray was born in Buckinghamshire, where his father worked for British Rail. His paternal grandfather was the diplomat Ralph Murray, while his maternal grandfather was killed at the Battle of Dunkirk. After graduating from Oxford University, his comedy career began by working with Harry Hill for BBC Radio 4. He regularly performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, before launching his "Pub Landlord" persona (which he describes as a "know-all know-nothing blowhard who knows the answer to every question even though he hasn't been asked any of them"). This led to the Sky One sitcom '' Time Gentlemen Please'' and the chat show '' Al Murray's Happy Hour'' for ITV. He continues ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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