Showing titles in Performing Arts

Sara Pascoe explores our modern social world though theories of evolutionary psychology and more. In a brand-new stand-up show recorded in front of live audiences in museums, Sara asks how our past influences our modern lives and how come we can still get emotionally hijacked by our primitive emotions.

Recorded live at The Lowry, the spectacular waterfront theatre in Salford Quays, Reginald D. Hunter. In the Midst of Crackers showcases his unique, unpredictable and bound-pushing stand-up, making it clear that he has firmly cemented himself as one of the UK comedy industry’s best. As frank, honest and cutting-edge as ever, Reginald D. Hunter tackles subjects only the bravest of comedians will touch, so prepare yourself for a feast of shockingly controversial, yet searingly honest and brilliantly intelligent stand-up.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Where Have All the Bullets Gone?, written and read by Spike Milligan. Back to those haunting days in Italy in 1944, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, with lava running in great red rivulets down the slope towards us, and Jock taking a drag on his cigarette and saying, "I think we've got grounds for a rent rebate."

Dara O Briain Talks Funny: Live in London is the culmination of Dara's massive 2008 sell out tour of the UK and Ireland. Recorded at the world famous Hammersmith Apollo before 3,300 fans, this is Dara at his best, mixing top drawer material with lightning fast improvisation to give his audience yet another hilarious night to remember.

This laugh-out-loud memoir takes listeners backstage and inside the writers’ room of one of America’s best-loved shows. With more than 17 million viewers and more than 70 Emmy nominations—including two wins for best comedy—Everybody Loves Raymond reigned supreme in television comedy for almost a decade.

Australian-born Jim Jeffries is a headline performer worldwide. Regarded as one of the fastest rising stars in the comedy world, his brash confrontational style has made him one of the most sought after comics on the world stage. Jim gets away with jokes that most comedians wouldn't touch due to his ability to both charm and offend the crowd in equal measures. Recorded at The London Comedy Store, Hell Bound is Jim at his very best. Hard-hitting unrelenting gags!

Unpredictable, bizarre, elegiac, often cruel, but above all, painfully funny, What It Is sees Dylan ponder the joys and disappointments of human existence with the sensibility and intense perception of a man teetering on the edge. Critically and publicly acclaimed around the world for his previous Monster and Like, Totally shows, What It Is is Dylan's finest live performance yet.

Bringing together both The Wildebeest Years and Forty Nights in the Wildebeest, this fantastic collection showcases the brilliant, pop-culture-filled and one-liner-rich comedy of Nick Romero and Dan Freedman. From Incy Wincy Quincy, spider pathologist, and The Archers abroad (and in a new sci-fi format) to an amoebic Top Gear, Richard Coles as Robin Would, and a family of salad starring in Tossed in Space, the cabaret-style show features music from the house band, The Gents, and is full of wit, fun, and all the puns you could ever need.

A bumper collection of vintage episodes of the award-winning panel game. Just a Minute is BBC Radio 4's longest-running panel show, and a national treasure. Since 1967, it has welcomed an array of stellar guest players to demonstrate their verbal dexterity, wicked wit and brilliant banter, as they attempt to speak for 60 seconds on a given subject without hesitation, repetition or deviation.

Susan Calman has some very strong opinions, and in her radio debut she expresses them with her trademark wit and charm. In series 1, she examines the current hot political topic of equal marriage, looks at the issues surrounding the death penalty from the perspective gained whilst working on death row, considers how best to deal with depression and evaluates what it means to be Scottish. In series 2 she explains why she has never been interested in having children, explores society’s obsession with appearance, discusses intellectual snobbery and asks what it is that makes us human.

The hilarious trials and tribulations of stand-up comedian Paul Tonkinson as he attempts to beat the much lauded three-hour mark at the London Marathon. With a supporting cast of fellow comedians, this is a warmly written and wonderfully honest adventure-through-sport that will both entertain and inspire. Along the way, we are introduced to the characters helping Paul with his quest. Celebrity names such as Bryony Gordon, Russell Howard, Roisin Conaty and Vassos Alexander pop up with wit and wisdom....

Back in 1972, people had never heard of Samantha, Sven, nor Mrs. Trellis, and had no idea of the rules of Mornington Crescent, nor what points are for. The year 2022 marks 50 years of radio insanity—of the nation's finest comic minds being given silly things to do, with some of them set to music. Celebrate the Golden Anniversary of the greatest radio comedy of all time, the antidote to panel games, with the epic and exhaustive, fully authorized history of both I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again and its beloved spin-off, I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue.

And Another Thing...is stand-up sensation and star of Channel 4’s ‘The Last Leg’, BBC2’s ‘Mock The Week’and Channel 4’s ‘Stand Up For The Week’, Josh Widdicombe’s highly anticipated debut DVD. Recorded at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, viewers of this tale twisting perfectionist can expect an insight into Josh’s everyday annoyances and gripes. Delivered with his unique style and trademark wit, Josh proves that even the most mundane aspects of life can be turned into unbelievable accounts with hilarious consequences.

The Museum of Curiosity is BBC Radio 4's monumental comedy edifice, and the only one with gargoyles in the foyer. It allows nothing inside unless it makes you scratch your head, stroke your chin or, at the very least, go 'Hmm'. Secondly, it is almost completely empty. Fortunately, helping to fill its vacant plinths is a gathering of the world's most original minds.

Brian Cox and Robin Ince return to take a witty, irreverent and unashamedly rational look at the mysteries of the universe in these four series. Joining them for some hot science and flagrant comic nerdery are a panel of eggheads and entertainers, all eager to take a deep dive into topics ranging from cosmic dust to coincidence.

Broadcasting on the BBC Light Programme from December 1950 until July 1952, Calling All Forces was the biggest show of its day, attracting the biggest names of the time. Written by a young Bob Monkhouse and Denis Goodwin, it became a showcase for aspiring young comedians including Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Jimmy Edwards, Cyril Fletcher, Benny Hill, Kenneth Horne, Bill Kerr and Bob Monkhouse himself.

A 50-date tour is not unusal for this award-winning comedian, who has delighted audiences since he appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 1989. This program was recorded during Eddie's record-breaking run at London's Albery Theatre in 1994.

The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II is a celebration of the Queen's reign through some of her wittiest, most sarcastic and most humorous observations, revealing a fascinating side of her personality that often remains hidden from the public. When thinking of the Queen, our perception is often one of dignity and authority. She is seen as a serious figure: the British monarch, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and the head of the Commonwealth. But as anyone who has ever met her will tell you, in person she has wicked sense of humour.

First broadcast in 1967, Just a Minute is Radio 4's longest-running panel game, and a national institution. These five series from 2015-2016, brought together in one collection to commemorate the show's 55th anniversary, feature some of the most magical moments in JAM's history—among them David Tennant's spectacular performance, speaking for an uninterrupted minute in his very first show.

Gyles Brandreth presents the quiz show with scandal on its mind. Hosted by the least discreet man in Britain, broadcaster and national treasure Gyles Brandreth, Whispers is the panel game that celebrates all things scurrilous and salacious. Running the gauntlet of gossip are two teams of two guests, who test their wits and wit as they try to tell the difference between fact, fiction and outlandish speculation.