Cemetery Junction: written and directed by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant

Written and directed by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant, creators of the award-winning series The Office and Extras, Cemetery Junction tells the story of three friends who dream of breaking free from their mundane lives living in a dead end part of Reading.

Set in the 1970’s Cemetery Junction is a coming-of-age film and based in part on Ricky Gervais’ own early adult life.

“What do you want to go to France for?  There’s parts of Reading you haven’t seen yet!” his mother tells his son Freddie Taylor.

Three friends, Freddie, Bruce and Snork (Christian Cooke, Tom Hughes and Jack Doolan) are out every night, drinking, joking, fighting and chasing girls but dream of escaping their mundane lives in Cemetery Junction.

Forced to make a choice, they must decide between their life of partying and the promise of a brighter future. Nothing is quite as simple as it should be though, especially when Freddie falls for the daughter of his boss Mr Kendrick (Ralph Fiennes).

To complicate matters further, he discovers that she is already engaged to be married to star salesman Mike (Matthew Goode). To get what they want they’ll need to break the rules, whatever the cost.

Bruce still lives at home with his broken drunk father, and desperately wants to run away from his own life; and Snork…he’s the retarded one!

Cemetery Junction is not the film I expected Stephen Merchant & Ricky Gervais to write and direct.  But as it turns out, it is a brilliant debut and a successful switch from television to the big screen.

The film has its laugh out loud moments as you’d expect but also has some very touching moments too.  The three main characters bring their own baggage to the party and leave a great British coming-of-age feel good movie worth watching more than once; if for nothing else but the Noddy joke.

Released in April this year, Cemetery Junction has received a quick and welcome release on Blu-ray and DVD on 30th August and comes with the following bonus material:

Blu-ray and DVD Bonus Material

• Commentary with Writers/Directors Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant

• Cast Commentary with Christian Cooke, Tom Hughes and Jack Doolan

• The Directors:  A Conversation with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant

• The Lads Look Back:  The Stars Discuss Cemetery Junction

• Deleted Scenes

• Blooper Reel

Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Material

• movieIQ®+sync and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie

• Seventies Style: Production and Costume Design

• The Start of Filming

• Week 1

• Meet The Boys

• The Directors On Set

• Snow Dude (Easter Egg)

Stephen Fry is an avid user of Twitter, loves his iPhone apps and chairs the funniest quiz show on television, QI.

In September he will be playing live concerts in London, Oxford and Cambridge in conjunction with the publication of the new volume of his autobiography, The Fry Chronicles.

All concert tickets for the Stephen Fry Live shows have all sold out.  According to the official website, “… nearly all the tickets for it have been bought by someone called Arnold.”

If you are one of the unlucky ones not to be in the possession on a ticket for the live concerts you can watch the 13th September London show at a selection of cinemas across the UK.  The show will be broadcast live from the Royal Festival Hall via satellite. A list of the participating cinemas can be found on www.frylive.com. But if you would rather see Stephen Fry perform in the flesh you can buy tickets on viagogo, the online ticket exchange website.

Stephen Fry Tickets

Secure the best tickets from our selection of Stephen Fry tickets as well as other comedy tickets and Arts and Theatre Tickets on viagogo.  Stephen Fry tickets are covered by the viagogo Ticket Guarantee.

Stephen Fry will be signing copies of The Fry Chronicles after each show.

Angelos Epithemiou @ the Latitude Festival Comedy Arena 2010

Best known to most as a music festival, comedy has always played a big part at Latitude, and this the fifth edition of the ‘best small festival in the UK’, with the strap line, ‘it’s more than a music festival’ was no exception.

With each year the Latitude Festival grows some, and each year the Comedy Arena attracts large crowds, especially for comedians that have appeared on television.  Once again the Comedy Arena rivalled the music stages for large, appreciative audiences wishing to see top comedians not only from the UK, but from all over the world.  Emo Phillips was commonly seen on UK TV in the 1980’s but this was apparently his first UK stand-up performance for eight years.  Another American comedian headline act was the wonderfully dry pan and very funny Rich Hall.

Other household names performing over the weekend included Rufus Hound, Phil Jupitus, Ardal O’Hanlon (best known for his part as Father Dougal McGuire in the classic sitcom Father Ted) and Stephen K. Amos, as well as what has become a regular feature at Latitude, the very amusing Early Edition with Marcus Brigstocke and guests.  But there was a jaw aching two hour slot on Saturday afternoon that was truly brilliant.  It started at 3pm with Dominic Holland who, to be perfectly honest I had seen several times on Have I got News For You and never been over impressed with his wit.  But his performance was very good, with material based on married life, having kids, fatherhood and the pains of middle-age.

Kevin Bridges had a tough act to follow but kept the laughs coming with an act that turned up the heat on the adult language and got even bigger laughs than Dominic Holland.  Kevin Bridges recent TV performances on Jonathan Ross and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow meant the Comedy Arena was packed.  As a 24 year old Scot his experiences and anecdotes were somewhat different though there was a common thread between both comedians. Latitude is known to be a middle-class festival as much as a family-friendly festival and the middle-class knives were definitely out!

At one point Kevin Bridges was heckled from someone with a, shall we say, well spoken voice.  This worked in Bridges’ favour, especially when he found out his name was Harvey and he was studying archaeology.

After a quick break and another amusing altercation, this time between a narrow-minded idiot at the back of the audience took offence to what he perceived to be a racist joke from the compere Mark Oliver.  Firstly, the joke wasn’t at all racist, unless using the word ‘turban’ is deemed racism and secondly the twat was made to look like a cock – hope he reads this!

Following on was Micky Flanagan who received rapturous applause as he took to the stage and put a nail in the previous heckler’s coffin by joking he was going to have to change his set as 80% of it was racist, followed by saying ‘blacks, they’re everywhere’.

Though he has been a stand-up comedian for over 10 years, Micky Flanagan’s popularity has increased recently with TV performances on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow.

Like Dominic Holland he is another comedian who talks about being in his forties with very funny anecdotes. He also draws on his upbringing in the east end and how he is now middle-class. By taking the piss out of himself there was yet another dig at the middle-class families sitting cross-legged around the arena.

There was a group of young teenage girls in the front row whom Flanagan used to his advantage, explaining how teenagers say they are doing “fuck all” when they are playing around with their computers and Facebook accounts.  But when he does fuck all he does “proper old school fuck all” which sometimes involves just staring at the ceiling.  He then gave some useful tips on how to do ‘fuck all’ around the house.  Examples included watching the bath fill and boiling a kettle.

The beauty of Micky Flanagan is in his delivery and how he makes mundane and everyday observations amusing. And after one part of his act that was particularly rude he said to the parents in the audience that he didn’t know how they were going to explain that to the kids that were present, but that’s up to them as it was their choice to bring them.

Micky Flanagan was very funny and had myself, a friend and my 14 year old son crying with laughter, as were the whole crowd.

The last of four great performances was greeted with an even bigger cheer.  Angelos Epithemiou is the slightly retarded comic creation of Dan Renton Skinner and known to most people for his appearances in the new series of Shooting Stars with Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer, though he has appeared on several other TV shows including The Office Christmas Special, My Family, and The Armstrong & Miller Show.

Angelos Epithemiou walked on stage with an old coat, ankle swinging trousers and a plastic bag.  This was proper stupid comedy performance, not stand-up.  He had the audience laughing with every movement, without even saying anything. This was genius comic stupidity!

It was a show which Angelos Epithemiou had already performed on a UK tour, so I was grateful that I hadn’t spoilt the moment by watching YouTube before seeing him live.  Mixing the show up he played some music tracks whereby he attempted to sing-a-long to UB40’s Red Red Wine, played along with Going Up The Country by Canned Heat and danced to Mud’s The Cat Crept In.

Angelos Epithemiou was brilliant and along with Dominic Holland, Kevin Bridges and Micky Flanagan was a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon at the Latitude Festival 2010.

Comedy at the Latitude Festival 2010

Last weekend was Glastonbury and this weekend is the turn on T in the Park.  But no other UK festival offers more first class comedy than the Latitude Festival.

Latitude is now in its fifth year and each year the festival has grown. One of the festival’s most enduring and prestigious fixtures, the Comedy Arena, sees a huge and varied bill of comedy acts this year including the likes of Rich Hall, Emo Phillips, Rufus Hound, Stephen K. Amos, Kevin Eldon, Ardal O’Hanlon, Tommy Tiernan and many other comedy performances along with the Phil Jupitus Improv Show and a live broadcast of Radio 4’s The Early Edition with Marcus Brigstocke.

Rich Hall delivers a very dry deadpan view on the world around him and is probably best known for his tv appearances on QI.

The wickedly sharp observations of Stephen K. Amos has seen audiences all across the country rolling in the aisles in either hysterics and even, at times, outrage.  With each whistle stop tour upon racism, homophobia, pop culture – including documentaries on the two former topics – his bright and charming ripostes to everything around him have garnered him a respectable following. Having performed every year at the Edinburgh Fringe since 2003, and a regular at London’s Comedy Store, his reputation is bolstered by his eagerness to perform. He released his long awaited debut live DVD – Find the Funny – late last year. He’s made many TV appearances from Live At The Apollo to Children In Need. He returns to the Latitude Comedy Arena as one of the most popular rising performers.

Kevin Eldon is probably the most familiar face in comedy television. He’s appeared in shows such as Spaced, Fist of Fun, With Richard Not Judy, Big Train and Black Books in the role of quirky and extremely memorable characters. Verging on the dark and disturbing but without veering away from hilarity, Kevin’s comic acting roles should give us a good indication of the brilliance in store for those attending and paying attention.

From winning the Perrier Best Newcomer Award back in 1993 Dominic Holland has elevated his comic voice onto radio, stages across the country and TV with the likes of Have I Got News For You. Described as “a comedian who makes you feel glad to be alive” by The Guardian, Dominic has gradually become a renowned author on top of his comedy persona. This multi-faceted talent is one of our best kept secrets and the Comedy Arena is proud to reveal him to a new batch of potential fans.

And if that’s not enough there is a screening of Four Lions followed by a Q&A with comedy genius Chris Morris in the Film & Music Tent.

Latitude Festival returns for an incredible 5th Edition on 15-18th July 2010 set in the beautiful countryside of Henham Park Estate on Suffolk’s Sunrise Coast.  Tickets are sold out.

As Cleese explains it is fairly elemantary really, why would football be known as anything else?

John Cleese – Soccer v Football

Not The Messiah ( He's A Very Naughty Boy) DVD

On October 23rd 2009, to celebrate Monty Python’s 40th anniversary, a very special one night only event took place at London’s famous Royal Albert Hall.

Recorded for posterity the incredibly ambitious musical version of Monty Python’s Life of Brian was brought to the stage in a 90 minute production and is now released on the unsuspecting public through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Never were those immortal words uttered by John Cleese so many years ago more apt..’And now for something completely different…’

How different can you possibly get? While Cleese himself is the only surviving member of the team not to be involved in Not The Messiah, the production does bring together Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.

Eric Idle and John Du Prez who were responsible for the amazing success of Spamalot join force once again, creating a unique masterpiece of a show that combines all the unforgettable bits of Life of Brian with the overblown grandeur of operatic soloists, a full blown orchestra and chorus.

Despite being a life long Python fan I must admit to having reservations prior to watching the DVD, musicals are not really my thing and the trailer suggested something more akin to opera anyway, so with trepidation I pressed play.

The always cheeky Eric Idle put me at ease and by the start of the show I had a pleasant grin plastered on my face, amused and relieved to see ‘Mrs Betty Palin’ appear on stage as narrator.

For the first twenty minutes or so, while there were a few laughs, I imagined that once I had reviewed the disc I would not care to watch it again.

But fair to say the show picks up comedy wise as it goes on and half way through I found myself enjoying an art form that I had previously had no experience of.

The laughs come thick and fast in the second half of the show and there are some excellent non Life of Brian moments thrown in, such as Idle’s impression of  that other Messiah, Bob Dylan, with the full choir suddenly appearing with harmonicas and playing for laughs.

From the start it is obvious that this is a very special show and it is very evident that the entire cast, orchestra and chorus, who remain on stage throughout, are bang up for it and are going to have the night of their lives whatever.

It really works and there are some magical performances from all involved including some rather unexpected moments from members of the band.

By the end I no longer felt that the DVD would be tossed away after this review, instead I felt that I wanted to watch the whole thing again, a remarkable achievement for this production of Not The Messiah.

Not The Messiah – Trailer

Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) is released on June 14th and will be available on Blu-ray for RRP £22.99 and DVD for RRP £15.99.

DVD Special Features Include:
“The Road to the Albert Hall” Featurette – A 30 minute behind the scenes documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew rehearsing and preparing for the show.
“Showtime!” Featurette – A unique look at the fascinating backstage mechanics of the show including last minute nerves and excitement, backstage near misses and mayhem and hasty moustache adjustments.
“The Bright Side…” Featurette – Composer Eric Idle talks us through writing this surprisingly upbeat comedy classic song!
6 Sing-A-Long Songs including “You’re the One,” “Take Us Home” and “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”
Blu-ray Disc Exclusive:
movieIQ+sync and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie. Once connected, movieIQ+sync will display all of the great information movieIQ offers on a computer screen or iPhone instead of onscreen, all while staying synchronized to the movie!
The Blu-ray Disc version of Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy)isBD-Live enabled, allowing users to get connected and use the disc as a key to unlock exclusive content and features via an Internet-connected Blu-ray player. Download exclusive content and give feedback through our survey and more!

Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) has a running time of approximately 91 minutes and is rated 12.

I still love the line,  ‘as much imagination as a caravan site’! Brilliant stuff from the unsung comedic genius songwriter!!

Neil Innes – How Sweet To Be An Idiot

Taken from the directors cut of The Library.

Mr Bean – Ruined Library Book

No one takes comedy so close to the edge while remaining so funny.

Brass Eys – Good AIDS vs Bad AIDS

Comedy at the Latitude Festival 2010

Latitude Festival has earned a fierce reputation for presenting the searingly sharp edge of comedy and this year Latitude will not disappoint with an incredible wealth of talent throughout the bill.

One of the festival’s most enduring and prestigious fixtures, the Comedy Arena, sees a huge and varied bill of comic splendour. Joining previous announcements are:

Team captain of TV show Argumental, Rufus Hound joins this eclectic comic bill. Having cut his teeth on Richard and Judy, the BBC’s Reading and Leeds and Glastonbury coverage he’s been seen recently dancing convincingly to Cheryl Cole on Let’s Dance For Sport Relief and continues to present Outtake TV, following in the footsteps of Anne Robinson. His straight-talking approach and impressive handlebar moustache are sure to leave a lasting impression.

Northern Irish comic and actor Jimeoin may have made his name in his current home country of Australia, but his sharp observations are universal. Having written two feature length comedy films, and acted in several TV shows in Oz, it’s a wonder he has the time to tour the continent, the UK and Ireland. Yet he remains a popular fixture throughout these isles and Latitude is sure to provide a real welcome return to UK soil.

Irish hip-hop duo Abandoman, fronted by Robert Broderick and ably backed by multi-instrumentalist James Hancox, have already made a name for themselves with their interpretation of this musical style. They won the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year award in 2010 thanks to their exhilarating and hilarious signature cuts like ‘An Open Letter To Haribo Sweets’. Bringing a twisted reflection of rap lyricism, Abandoman will be a unique highlight of the entire weekend.

Also performing are Emo Phillips, Ardal O’Hanlon, Rich Hall and Richard Herring among many other stellar comics.