Audio of all 12 episodes on LP for the first time
Audio versions of all 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers are to be released as a full vinyl LP collection for the first time.
The release, which includes a 12-inch print signed by John Cleese, will be limited to 1,500 copies.
It comprises the original four BBC vinyl albums – Fawlty Towers, Second Sitting, At Your Service and A La Carte - plus two newly created collections, Plat Du Jour and Enjoy Your Stay, to cover all the episodes.
They include a narration from the late Andrew Sachs as Manuel which is unique to the vinyl versions and hasn’t been available since the original pressings.
.and at the London Palladium, too
Phil Wang is finally getting to record his first full-length Netflix special.
The comic had originally planned to tape his Philly Philly Wang Wang show at The Old Vic in London in May last year, announcing the news just a couple of weeks before lockdown hit.
However, the recording has now finally been rescheduled for the London Palladium on June 12.
Announcing the news, Wang posted on social media : ‘Thank you for your patience… feeling good about this one.’
Review of novel about a comedian facing a paternity crisis
Simon Taylor was a young, jobbing comedian on the Melbourne stand-up scene when a one-night stand led to a paternity scare that forced him to confront a different future from the one he’d envisaged.
Now he’s written his first novel – about a young, jobbing comedian on the Melbourne stand-up scene who had a one-night stand, leading to a paternity scare that forced him to confront a different future from the one he’d envisaged.
So it’s little surprise that the events in the book titled, you guessed it, One Night Stand, have an air of authenticity. The action starts in the Exford Hotel, a real-life backpackers’ hostel with weekly free comedy night, where our hero Ben Thomas is trying anything to engage with a thin audience of disinterested punters, despite being distracted himself.
Comedians combine in fundraising efforts
A number of leading comedy podcasts have united for mashup episodes in aid of Comic Relief.
The hybrid episodes, which launched today, are:
Menus To Be Buried With: Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster combined with Films To Be Buried With Brett Goldstein. Goldstein, pictured, said: ‘I’m so excited to get Ped Bambles and the Genie on my podcast to discuss the pressing issues like the meal that meant the most to them and the sexiest meal they ever had.’
Hip Hop Saved The Horne Section: Alex Horne and The Horne Section mashed up with Romesh Ranganathan’s Hip Hop Saved My Life. Horne said: ‘If this is what it’s like to do a mash-up then I’m a big fan of mash-ups. Combining our stupid podcast with Romesh’s niche one meant we both had to do half the work for twice the listeners; probably more for us, to be honest, because I think his is more popular. ‘
The forgotten Scottish comedian with a remarkably similar look
He was a box-office hit hailed as one of ‘the greatest comedians of the day’ – but history has largely forgotten silent movie star Billie Richie.
The Glaswegian was Scotland s first international film star, but he became overshadowed by Charlie Chaplin, who used several of the same comic techniques - including the tramp persona and drunk act.
Now one silent film historian is making an attempt to tip the balance back in favour of the overlooked Scot, described in newspaper reports of the day as the ‘tutor and teacher’ of Chaplin and ‘the funniest man in pictures’.