In Stitches || June 2015

Hello, hello! Hasn't it been a while since I've posted on Fagan's Finds, well now I'm back again with 'In Stitches'. For those of you who don't follow me over on Twitter, I've been freelancing with 'Eat More Cake' and 'Kettle Mag' alongside finishing my first year at university. But enough of the excuses, here's June edition of 'In Stitches', enjoy! 

  Channel 4 drop 'The British Comedy Awards':

 ©RedCarpetNewsTv

A statement was released last month from a Channel 4 spokesperson, following the decision to renew with BCA's deal. Channel 4, have been broadcasting the awards for the last three years, but last years figures were less than half compared to when it first aired. This decline resulted in the TV station deciding to give the responsibility to another broadcaster.  There has been no word on who will take over the comedy crown, but suspicions suggest a return to ITV, who ran the show for 20 years. 

  BBC iPlayer release British Muslim comedy shorts for Ramadan:

 ©BBC

In honour of the muslim religious holiday Ramadan, BBC iPlayer have released five comedy shorts featuring up and coming British Muslim comedians. These shorts explore the lives of modern Muslim lives, including the ups and downs and the struggles during Ramadan. You can watch the comedy shorts if you click here for the next 7 days. All the shorts were directed by Dave Lambert, who has been involved with comedy shows such as Alan Partridge and The Mighty Boosh to name a few. 

  Julian Barratt & Simon Farnaby join forces on Baby Cow film:

 ©PMCvariety

'Mindhorn' will be the love child of comedy legends 'Julian Barratt' and 'Simon Farnaby'. Both have worked together in various projects like 'The Mighty Boosh' and 'Bunny and the Bull'. Filming will start on the Isle of Man in late July, but there is no information yet for a trailer or a release date. The very bizarre storyline follow MI5 Special Operative 'Bruce Mindhorn' who is kidnapped in the 80's. He is then subsequently fitted a lie detector in his eye, so he can physically 'see the truth'. This then follows a serious of events, which you can tell will be all forms of the weird and wonderful. 

  'Hancock's Half Hour' revitalised in missing episodes:

 ©Telegraph

And finally, back when radio comedy was popular 'Hancock's Half Hour' was one of the most listened to comedy on air. The series itself ran from 1954 to 1959, and now the show is returning to Radio 4 planning to air the 20 missing episodes from the BBC archives. Last year 5 shows were aired and due to the popularity, another 5 are planned for this year. The episodes will be recorded this July down in the London studios but it has not been released which scripts have been chosen and when they will be aired on Radio 4. 

In Stitches || November 2014

    November has not been a disappointing month in the world of comedy, the month kicked off with a blast bringing us Toast of London series 2. The first series of Toast was aired last year on Channel 4 and received more than a warm welcome. With the brilliant Matt Berry playing the main character, Toast who is a struggling actor, we follow him through his adventurous lifestyle while meeting some quirky characters along the way. Toast is definitely tailored towards those who're previous fans of Berry's work such as Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Snuff Box, The IT Crowd and The Mighty Boosh due to its surreal and satirical material. I for one am a huge fan of Berry, so I found the second series to be just as funny and entertaining as the first, definitely search this out if you've got half an hour to kill. 

© Channel 4

 
  This month we've surprisingly got two lots of Toast related news, as fans of the show are now able to begin buying related merchandise to decorate their humble abodes. Smart Giant Design have released four prints starting from £20 each, featuring the main characters; Steven Toast, Jane Plough, Ray Purchase and Clem Fandango. You could equally purchase all four for £50 to show your dedication to the show. The prints themselves are really simplistic showing the key features of each character, and I personally wouldn't mind purchasing myself one for my flat. You can click here, to have a nosey at the prints, treat yourself!

© Smart Giant Designs

    
     After a good couple of years, I was able to go see Noel Fielding again, and this time it was on the third row for his latest stand up gig. Renowned for his work as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh with his partner in crime Julian Barratt, Noel went on his own and produced two series of Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. The show, being more outlandish and surreal to the Boosh seemed to tighten his fans but still had huge success. A few months after the end of series two, Noel released tour dates around the UK, which are still currently running into 2015. I'm tempted to do a full review on the gig as it was so mental, but if I say anything its that Noel Fielding has not lost his comedy touch! With modern references to Tinder and other 2014 nonsense, Noel pulls it out the bag once again and proves his brilliance in the field. 

© Love Southend

    
   Questionably the most surreal and controversial man in comedy, the likes of Chris Morris the creator of The Day Today, Jam and Brass Eye graced our radios this month. BBC 4extra broadcasted a three hour long documentary called Raw Meat Radio in dedication to Morris, featuring interviews from those who've worked with him over the years including the man who suspended him from Radio 1. Alongside this is also clips and unheard scenes from his shows unfortunately there is no actual input from Morris himself, who tends to stay out of the media's limelight due to his shows. You can still listen on catch up here, its definitely something not to miss out on if you're a Morris fan. 

© Pix Good

    

In Stitches || December 2013

    As far as years go, 2013 has been absolutely outstanding for the comedy world, there have been suitable winners at this years Comedy Awards, the notorious BFQOTY (which I'll talk more about later in the post) and the sightings of new comedy tours. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of filming my 'In Stitches' series, but for the next 6 months my priorities are going to be revising for my A-Level exams to get into university. The course I'll be doing (Journalism/Broadcast Journalism) will fit along side this hobby and passion, so I'll be able to put more time and effort into 'In Stitches' once that time arrives, but for now here's December's edition of 'In Stitches', enjoy!

© Wikipedia

    It has been confirmed that Matt Berry's latest comedy project 'Toast of London' will be returning for a second series and oh boy am I excited! When I've spoke about Toast in the past, I've explained how much I really love the off the wall and dry humour and with its 400,000 viewership its evident that its had an effect on the comedy sphere. I came across a lovely quote that TVO got from the head of comedy for Channel 4, Phil Clarke sharing his opinion on the show; "everything a Channel 4 comedy should be. Unapologetically original funny writing, driven by bold and hilarious performances from Matt Berry and the cast. It’s a unique comedy show, there’s nothing else like it." Series one is available at the moment to buy online absolutely anywhere but if you can't be bothered to search the net you can simply click here for a direct link!

© Sprout Pictures

    If your a fan of Moone Boy and have any siblings/children under the age of 10 then pay close attention to this piece of news. The rights have been bought for two novels to be made from the current series of Moone Boy, it has been said that the scenarios brought up in the series can be easily adapted to novel writing, and it presumed to bring in a six figure sum. The first novel is set to be released later on this year, following the second novel in 2015. And for those of you not interested in the novel at all, don't threat, series 2 of the show will soon be airing on Sky 1 along with series 3 already filmed. 

© List

    As with all Noel Fielding news (being the huge fan I am) I'm proud to announce if you've not already heard that the surrealist comedy show on E4 'Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy' now has its own online merch store. You can get your basic pieces such as t-shirts with notorious slogans "it's all bleedin' coming together" and "am I nothing?" or you can get some quite exclusive (in my eyes) pieces that were based around single episodes, such as the Bryan Ferry kite or Pele mug. Either way there is something for the fans and I think I might end up treating myself to some of these luxuries (see what I did there) myself in the future. If you want to have a nosey you can click here and it will direct you straight to their online store.

© Channel 4

    Towards the end of every year we get the delightful special of Big Fat Quiz of the Year, this year the teams consisted of Jack Whitehall and Jonathon Ross, Dara O Briain and Kristen Schaal and finally Richard Ayoade and Noel Fielding along with host Jimmy Carr. As always each episode goes down a hoot and this one didn't disappoint in the slightest. If you watched the show when it aired on Boxing Day I'm sure one of your favourite moments will be the champagne and turkey sandwiches break which Jonathan Ross initiated half way through the show, ending with an audience member getting a Jimmy Carr DVD filled with turkey and Noel Fielding going to sleep on the end of set with Dara O Briain next to him. The episode is on 4od so if you click here it'll direct you straight to that, definitely give it a watch!

    Hope you enjoyed this months 'In Stitches' as always the comments are open for any discussions connected to the comedy news of this month and if you have any questions you can also leave them in the comments section.

In Stitches || October 2013

    Over the past two to three months I've been doing special monthly videos on my Youtube account called 'In Stitches'. These consist of a comedy based kinda news round, revealing exciting new projects, tours etc by comedians as comedy is a strong passion of mine. Now October's edition of In Stitches, sadly wasn't filmed due to being extremely busy and some personal reasons and I feel absolutely terrible for it. So what I decided to do along side these monthly installments to also write a more detailed blog post about each news story, to give you that extra bit of knowledge and insight. I thought this would also be a great tool incase I'm unable to post one month's episode due to whatever reason, like this month. So sit back and enjoy October's 'In Stitches' blog post.  

© NME

    This month has marked a huge milestone for the comedy 5 piece 'The Mighty Boosh' as they have performed quite a few gigs in London in preparation for their set at the Festival Supreme in Santa Monica. After watching quite a few fan videos of the boys performing, I can happily say that all their efforts led to a successful outcome with hundreds of fans being able to relieve some of their boosh memories. While down in London, the boys performed at the Soho Theatre, with supporting acts Holly Burns, Joey Page and Stuart Silver (who I hear were outstanding) bringing back to life the chemistry the boys all had together, especially Noel and Julian. A few days after this, they jetted off to do their set for Festival Supreme, fine tuning their songs and jokes the night was another success. You must credit all of the boys for giving such an exceptional show, considering they've not worked together for a number of years and yet that magic touch is still there. Hopefully this is the start of something wonderful, with possibly more gigs, or finally the release of their album which has been on stand by for a good 5 years now.

© The British Comedy Guide

    A really exciting opportunity happening this month (November) in London is the Big Comedy Conference, this day entails you to attend talks and workshops from some of the greats in the comedysphere on careers in comedy. Such people like; Al Murray, Jo Brand, Andrea Mann, Freddy Syborn and over 40+ more speakers will be sharing their stories and tips on how to get into the comedy business. Sadly only in London, tickets for the day will cost around £149 for that price you will be able to attend all of the talks, get lunch and have the opportunity to stay for the comedy gig at the end of the day, with a bar open till 11pm. This event is not one to miss, I definitely would be booking my ticket right now if only I lived closer down to London but if you do live close by and want to book a ticket, this click HERE and it'll take you straight through to the website, but hurry because tickets are going fast!

© Channel 4

    One of my favourite shows on Channel 4 has finally returned for a full series and it's Matt Berry's 'Toast Of London'. A one off episode for Channel 4's 'Funny Fortnight' was aired last year, and it was one of the best they shown and I'm over the moon that it's finally been commissioned for it's first full series. Matt Berry stars as struggling actor Stephen Toast, who during his life as a middle aged idiosyncratic finds himself dealing with very bizarre situations, while trying to get recognised in the acting world. Being a Channel 4 comedy, TOL has it's weird and wonderful aspects to it, so expect some very peculiar jokes and gags. The show airs on Sunday at 10:40pm on Channel 4 (it's on tonight woo) and there are already two episodes on 4od which you can find HERE to give you a taste of the show.

© The Guardian

    After the great cornetto trilogy has ended, the Q&A session for The World's End has been announced this November. As the trilogy is due to be released on the 25th of November, it's only right for the Q&A to be happening to coincide with the release (I'm super excited to own the trilogy on DVD). Director/Co-writer Edgar Wright and Co-writer/Starred Simon Pegg will be attending a special viewing of the film at Cineworld Haymarket (23rd) with a live Q&A and unseen footage from the film. Then the following day Wright and Pegg will be introducing the whole trilogy at Prince Charles Cinema at Leicester Square, back to back from 4pm till 10:30pm. Tickets are selling like hot cakes so you can head over to Cineworld HERE or Prince Charles Cinema HERE to purchase you tickets for quite an amazing event. 

Blogging Draught

    I'm sure you've all noticed recently that I've not been blogging and I'm extremely sorry about this. If you follow me on youtube you will know that I've recently decided to make more comedy driven videos, so most of my time has been spent on coming up with ideas and filming/editing. Along with these new ideas, my new monthly series 'In Stitches' keeps me busy on a daily basis as I have to follow up any stories I've heard about to get the correct information for you all. In no way am I trying to make excuses as I'm 100% sure that if at the time I really wanted to blog, I would've blogged. This new creative outlet has let me indulge myself in something different compared to my fashion posts and reviews. 

    Living in the UK, I'm currently on my summer holidays which in total is 11 weeks long and I still have two and a half weeks left, which means I've also been taking a lot of personal days to do whatever I want whether it be sleep in till 3pm or.. that's pretty much it ha. Don't get me wrong I've not been living inside a cave all this time but after putting a crazy amount of effort into the last month of college, I thought it was something I earned without feeling guilty. Although during my time off college I did take part in a 4talent day with Channel 4 which was incredibly inspiring, so I did spend some time outdoors ha. On the subject of college, I received my AS results last week and I've got B's in all my subjects literally 10 points in each subject away from A's so I'm extremely chuffed with that outcome!

    So I know these reasons may not seem credible to you all, but I hope you can understand why I've been absent from the blogging word recently. I intend on catching up on everything I've missed (I have two reviews on the horizon) and I'd like to thank you all for sticking with me through this blogging draught.

4Talent Days || Wigan

    If you follow me on twitter you would've known that I applied and got accepted for Channel 4's talent days, these days give people the opportunity to learn about the media side of the world to give an insight and guides to your future career. I've never been to an event like this before especially on my own but I'll tell you know I highly recommend it! I got to the event at around 8:45ish and there was roughly 140-200 other people there as well, I actually seen somebody I knew from college so I hung with them till registration time.

    I signed onto the 'Adventures into TV Journalism' workshop with Jules Mccarthy; the senior broadcast journalism at Staffordshire University. Throughout the day we got given freebies to take home with us which I thought was extremely sweet considering the whole event was free of charge (I got a shoulder bag, water bottle, pen, notebook and USB drive all with the Channel 4 logo imprinted) we were also offered free water, tea, coffee and pastries over the course of the day along with a free dinner. 

    During the event we had a few talks off a variety of people such as, Priscilla Baffour who introduced us to the whole event and what we was going to expect and take away from the experience. Ade Rawcliffe who discussed her journey and experience into the media industry, along with documentary makers Nine Lives Media. 

    During the 'Adventures into TV Journalism' workshop we were paired into groups and had to arrange a small radio package, displaying three pieces of news that we felt was most important; we chose a crime, weather and media broadcast. We were also given out booklets regarding broadcast journalism, we handy tips and tricks along with useful websites. The whole day was absolutely brilliant and I'm quite sad now that Channel 4 have gone and it's all over ha.