Comedy of the Week

BBC Radio 4
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Apr 21, 2025 • 15min

The Skewer

Jon Holmes remixes the news into a current affairs comedy concept album. News meets popular culture in a multi-award-winning mash up. This week: Charlie XCX is bumpin' that with Donald Trump, Minecraft Movie vs Russia, and Starmer: Man of Steel.Producer: Jon Holmes An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
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Apr 14, 2025 • 29min

Introducing: The Naked Week

The Naked Week team are back to place satirical news-tariffs on current events with a mix of correspondents, guests and, occasionally, live animals.This week we mourn the death of globalisation, take a tour of Keir's new theme park, and play a game of BBC Balance Local Elections Naked Week Joke Twister.From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.Written by: Jon Holmes Katie Sayer Gareth Ceredig Sarah Dempster Jason Hazeley.Investigations Team: Cat Neilan Louis Mian Freya Shaw Matt BrownGuests: Freya Parker and Alicia Fitzgerald.Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer, Phoebe Butler.Executive Producer: Philip Abrams Produced and Directed by Jon HolmesAn unusual production for BBC Radio 4
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Apr 7, 2025 • 28min

Call Jonathan Pie

The first four episodes of Call Jonathan Pie series 2 are now available on BBC Sounds, subscribe to be alerted when new episodes in the series are released.Frustrated call-show host Jonathan Pie is back along with his trusted team – Pie’s finding the daily grind difficult and the team have all become as disillusioned with the world as he has. The new series kicks off with a discussion about the BBC licence fee, or at least it was supposed to. It soon becomes clear however that Pie must answer for past mistakes. Call Jonathan Pie is written and performed by Tom Walker. With additional material by Nick Revell and Daniel Abelson Jules ….. Lucy Pearman Sam ….. Aqib Khan Roger ….. Nick Revell. The callers; Adam Byron, Laura Shavin, Daniel Abelson, Sarah Gabriel and Ed KearProducers Alison Vernon-Smith and Julian Mayers A Yada-Yada Audio Production for BBC Radio 4
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Mar 31, 2025 • 29min

Dan Tiernan: Going Under

Dan Tiernan doesn't just perform stand up - he attacks it. In Going Under, he debuts his unique brand of furious, unpredictable and wildly entertaining comedy on the radio, covering living with dyspraxia, becoming a dinner lady, and his sister's cancer diagnosis.An exhilarating mix of raw personal chaos, cutting observations, and gloriously queasy gags, recorded live at Backyard Comedy Club.Written and Performed by Dan Tiernan Produced by Ewan McAdamProduction Manager - Laura Shaw Executive Producer - Charlie Dinkin A Daddy's SuperYacht Production for BBC Radio 4.
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Mar 24, 2025 • 15min

DMs Are Open

The secret of the bees, an unusual secret Santa and the secret to a happy marriage all feature in this week’s show, written by the next generation of comedy writers.DMs Are Open is back for a brand new series. Stevie Martin is your host and she’s brought together an incredible cast of comedy legends: Al Roberts, Charlotte Ritchie, Sunil Patel and Emily Lloyd-Saini.Written by the public. This week it was written by:Steve Blair Jo Bunting Caitriona Dowden Aruhan Galieva Ben Pope Vicky Richards Christina Riggs Pete TelloucheScript Edited by Cameron Loxdale and Mike Shephard.Producer: Georgia Keating Assistant Producer: Katie Baum Executive Producer: James Robinson Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls Recorded by David Thomas Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-KingRecorded at Up The Creek.A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4. An EcoAudio certified production.
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Mar 17, 2025 • 28min

The 13 Million Club

More than 13 million people in this country can be classed as disabled, often in ways we don’t think or talk about – sometimes in ways which even they are not fully conscious of. The spectrum of mental and physical disability is far wider than most of us have ever thought about. It’s an elephant in the room - we can all see it (unless we’re visually impaired) but none of us talk about it (unless we have Tourette Syndrome).If you’re uncomfortable with these jokes, don’t worry, this show isn’t always going to be comfortable. But it will be subversive, celebratory, and absolutely unlike anything else you’ve ever heard on the radio – or, very likely, anywhere else.Under the stewardship of sassy American import, Spring Day, The 13 Million Club brings together a remarkable range of talents and a collection of fresh perspectives in a smorgasbord of stand-up and spiky consumer pieces.From dwarfism to Parkinson’s, via cystic fibrosis, hearing loss, Tourette’s, life in a wheelchair and more besides, we laugh at and with our spectacular cast, which includes Paul Sinha, Will Robbins, Esther Manito and Jess Thom. While they laugh at the attitudes of others, and the madness of a world which is struggling to catch up with - let alone accommodate - them.Produced by Lianne Coop and Mark Watson. An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4.
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Mar 10, 2025 • 29min

Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar

Stand-up, philosophy and memoir from the godfather of alternative comedy, Alexei Sayle.In this episode, Alexei recalls his unorthodox upbringing in Liverpool, his subsequent move to London, and a woman called Mrs Cocker who said something that has stuck with him for ever.Written and performed by Alexei Sayle.The song was written and composed by Tim Sutton with:Sophie Creaner - clarinet and sax Tom Ellis - acoustic guitar Matt Sharp - celloProducer - Richard Morris Production Co-ordinator - Jodie CharmanA BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.
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Mar 3, 2025 • 29min

One Person Found This Helpful

Frank & guests Laura Smyth, Sunil Patel, Simon Evans & Kyrah Gray discuss googling, goggling, groping, gropping and the correct way to punch yourself in the face.This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day - shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the bafflingEveryone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter TelloucheDevised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David TylerA Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4
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Feb 24, 2025 • 15min

The Island

Fresh from his appearance on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, actor Stephen Mangan finds himself in the kind of trouble where the Bible, the Complete Works of Shakespeare, and his luxury item will be no help whatsoever.From Bill Dare (Dead Ringers), Jon Holmes (The Skewer) and writers Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock, actor Stephen Mangan washes up on the actual island from Desert Island Discs, only to discover that he is not alone.Living among the palms and rocky outcrops and thousands of copies of the Bible lying in the sand are every former guest of the show - and it’s all gone a bit Lord of the Flies.Through Stephen’s audio diary, we learn that all TV chef Nadiya Hussain wants to do is hunt, that Richard Madeley’s gone feral, and that Sandi Toksvig has the Conch. But there’s something lurking in the forest, and when Stephen suspects foul play in the power struggle to be chief, he soon finds himself making a dangerous enemy.Can he win over his fellow islanders before it’s too late? What lengths will he go to to survive? And what the hell is he going to do with this useless coffee machine he chose as his luxury item?Written by Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock Starring Stephen Mangan as himselfSound Design: Tony Churnside Executive Producer: Jon Holmes Producer: Bill DareAn unusual production for BBC Radio 4
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Feb 17, 2025 • 29min

ReincarNathan

Daniel Rigby, known for his role as Nathan Blakely, and Ashley McGuire, who plays Carol, dive into the surreal comedic world of Nathan's reincarnation as a rat. They navigate London sewers while tackling humor about fame, failure, and Egyptology. The discussion weaves through absurdities of the music industry and Nathan's existential crises—think chaotic adventures with a disgruntled crocodile and a mission to save a lost terrapin. Prepare for witty banter and whimsical insights on friendship and redemption!

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