Showing titles in Performing Arts

For anyone who loves American comedy, the long wait is over. Here are the never-before-told, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and remembrances from a master storyteller, filmmaker, and creator of all things funny. All About Me! charts Mel Brooks' meteoric rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to the recipient of the National Medal of Arts. 

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.

Audible Presents returns to the Edinburgh Fringe to bring you more hilarious stand-up from the world's best comedy festival.

Columnist, critic and award-winning author Craig Brown is well known for his Private Eye parodies lampooning politicians and celebrities. He has written for numerous newspapers, both under his own name and as his alter egos Wallace Arnold and Bel Littlejohn. Collected here are Brown's four fantastic radio series, plus two bonus programmes in which he discusses his life and work.

Mark Steel turns his analytical mind to the theme of revolutions in these six entertaining lectures, examining some of the major historical forces at work and holding up a mirror to our own age. In these entertaining lectures, he reinterprets the French Revolution, examining everything from the storming of the Bastille to the guillotine; looks at the politics of the sexual revolution (taking in the pill, the women’s movement and the Stonewall riots); and assesses the motivating factors and key players in the Russian Revolution – including the Romanovs, Rasputin and the Red Guard.

At last, here is the ultimate celebration of the nation's beloved sitcom from its legendary creator, John Cleese. Enjoy the behind-the-scenes magic, with stunning on-set photographs from the archives ... and a laugh a page! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'A joy and an education to read. So many memories...

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.

This program was recorded at Brighton Centre, England.

Often imitated but never bettered, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is the only authentic antidote to panel games. This collection finds unflappable chairman Humphrey Lyttelton giving silly things to do to regular panelists Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden, as well as special guests Stephen Fry and Rob Brydon. Highlights include old favourites such as One Song to the Tune of Another, 84 Chicken Cross Road, Sound Charades, New Definitions and of course the brilliantly baffling, fiendishly funny Mornington Crescent.

Grammy Winner for Best Spoken Comedy Album
Performed by George Carlin himself, and filled with thoughts, musings, questions, lists, beliefs, curiosities, monologues, assertions, assumptions, and other verbal ordeals, Brain Droppings is infectiously funny.

New! Don't miss our AudibleComedy combo, featuring original humor from standups Greg Proops and Steve Marmel.

Comedy, Tragedy, Therapy. Simon Amstell did his first stand-up gig at the age of 13. His parents had just divorced, and puberty was confusing. Trying to be funny solved everything. Read by Simon Amstell, and interspersed with footage from his stand-up tours, HELP is the hilarious and heartbreaking account of Simon's ongoing compulsion to reveal his entire self onstage. To tell the truth so it can't hurt him anymore. Loneliness, anxiety, depression - this book has it all. And more.

In Did We Say That Out Loud? Jane Garvey and Fi Glover offer a series of essays interspersed with the waspish asides for which they are beloved, with witty musings on their lives, from pet deaths and garden hose repairs to the gender pay gap and the trouble with HRT patches. Their book promises to take mid-life by its elasticated waist and give it a brisk going over with a stiff brush. At a time of constant uncertainty, what we all need is the wisdom and experience of two women who haven't got a clue what's happening either.

Scottie Price just started a new job and it's a real sausage fest. She's the only woman on a team filled with Brads and Chads. Expecting a bachelor pad atmosphere, she is quickly corrected when she finds out everyone is happily married. In an effort to impress her boss, Scottie mentions her nonexistent husband in a company meeting. But eagle-eyed Chad points out her lack of wedding ring.

Norman Wisdom's early years could easily have come straight from the pages of a Dickens novel. Left by their frightened mother and ill-treated by a brutal father, Norman and his brother were forced to fend for themselves, sleeping rough in London and stealing food to survive. This is a rags to riches tale of the man Charlie Chaplin said would take his mantle and who went on to make millions laugh around the world for over five decades.

A brilliant recording from his 2019 stand up tour. Ed again sees his own world and the world around him through the prism of a razor sharp brain and a comic vision which is quite unique.

This is a self help book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you. When James quit all forms of social media in 2019 he felt like he'd been born anew, but he was worried he'd suffer withdrawal and get lured back online to compete in a never ending...

Jimmy Car invites audiences to challenge him with their boldest heckles. Filmed live during his sell-out Laughs Funny tour, Carr unleashes sharp responses and quick-fire wit as he takes on whatever the crowd throws his way. Featuring quick-fire exchanges, audience confessions, offbeat observations and more. No topic is off limits and every seat is part of the act.

The complete BBC radio series of Micky Flanagan's autobiographical comedy show - plus pilot episode 'Excellent, funny and poignant' Miranda Sawyer, The Observer Based on his Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated show What Chance Change?, Micky Flanagan's debut radio series combines brilliant stand-up...

The history of heavy metal brings us extraordinary stories of larger-than-life characters living to excess, from the household names of Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Iron Maiden and Metallica to the brutal notoriety of the underground Norwegian black metal scene and the New Wave of British heavy metal. It is the story of a worldwide network of rabid fans escaping everyday mundanity through music, of cutthroat corporate arseholes ripping off those fans and the bands they worship to line their pockets.

Sandi Toksvig and her celebrity guests explore the Danish concept of 'hygge' One of the few Danish words that British people have become familiar with, 'hygge' is a specifically Scandinavian notion of snugness, comfort and contentment. It's all about enjoying the simple pleasures, like curling...