British Comedy

The best of the week's comedy on TV, radio and on demand

Chelsea Handler, Patton Oswalt, Josh Johnson and the rest of the week's live comedy picks

Flight Of The Conchords are making a comeback 15 years after their HBO series ended – but only for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo.

Alex Horne has revealed that Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement – aka New Zealand's fourth most popular folk-comedy duo, below – will be making the briefest of appearances in the second series of The Horne Section TV show, which starts next week.

The best of the week's live comedy

Griff Rhys Jones will step into the shoes of beloved Jim Hacker in I'm Sorry, Prime Minister.

SERIES TWO LAUNCHES AT 10PM ON THURSDAY 22ND MAY ON CHANNEL 4ALL EPISODES WILL BE AVAILBLE TO STREAM ON CHANNEL 4 FROM  THURSDAY 22ND MAY

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https://www.comedy.co.uk/online/videos/6443/davestation/

The best of the week's live comedy

The week's best comedy on TV, radio and streaming

The week's best live comedy

And Man Like Mobeen's back - the best of the week's comedy on TV

The best of the week's live comedy

The week's best comedy on TV, radio and streaming

The week's best comedy on TV and radio

The week's best live comedy

Over the last 50 years, Saturday Night Live has become a cornerstone of US television and a conveyor belt for new comedy talent, attracting A-list cameos and launching careers. British TV executives are now hoping it can bring some of that lustre across the Atlantic in a deal to bring the show to the UK for the first time.

After numerous failed attempts to recreate the late-night comedy format that has proved so successful in the US, Sky has announced it is making a British version of the show to premiere next year. Crucially, the show’s original creator and champion, Lorne Michaels, will be an executive producer.

The broadcaster is already promising a “star-studded lineup of hosts”, adding that it will be filmed in London. It is also promising to stay true to the US show’s “live, fast-paced style” – which has included comedy sketches, a roster of comic presenters and musical guests – with a cast list of “the funniest British comedians around”.

It will no doubt be a draw for leading comedians in the UK, as the US original has launched the careers of comedy royalty including Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell and Mike Myers.

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The move is also a gamble by Sky, given the number of previous attempts to recreate a live, late-night comedy show concentrating on topical issues. While the UK has had a number of hit comedy panel shows, such as Have I Got News for You, the live sketch-style programme has not endured in the same way.

In the 1980s, Saturday Live was launched and similarly featured rising and established talent, including Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry, Tracey Ullman, Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall. It was moved to Friday nights for its third series before being cancelled. It was briefly revived in 1996, hosted by Lee Hurst.

Channel 4 launched Saturday Zoo in the early 1990s, featuring comedy and celebrity interviews. It ran for just 13 episodes. Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show also worked with up-and-coming comedians and boosted the careers of Ricky Gervais, Sacha Baron Cohen and Jimmy Carr.

Brian Logan, the Guardian’s comedy critic, said there was a “strange alchemy” in the early successes of SNL in the US that had made it self-sustaining. “They’re quite different comedy cultures,” he said. “It’s not just SNL that has been tried here, but also late-night talkshows and comedy shows.

“And America has experimented with panel shows, which never seem to take off in America, but are a massive comedy vehicle for comedians in the UK. So there is clearly something going on whereby these things don’t always transfer. But if the SNL team are involved in this one, it stands a better chance than some.”

Others in the TV industry say the format’s mixed success in the UK comes down to money. In the US, the show’s backers are able to pay and retain top comedy talent. But shows in the UK, made on far lower budgets, often lose their star performers to more lucrative ventures.

The week's best live comedy

The week's best live comedy

Police were called to a comedy show in Essex after a fight broke out in the audience, which reportedly led to a man being assaulted.

Inquiries are ongoing after the altercation at the end of standup comic Paul Chowdhry’s performance of his Englandia tour at the Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend.

Theatre management said a “small number of customers expressed their frustration” towards another customer who had been heckling the act throughout the evening.

Police officers attended the scene after reports of a disturbance. An Essex police spokesperson said: “It was reported a fight had broken out and a man was assaulted. No serious injuries were reported, officers attended and inquiries are ongoing.”

Chowdhry recorded footage on his phone while he was being heckled on stage, which he posted to Instagram. The comedian playfully swore at his heckler and said: “I’m gonna take a picture and make sure you’re never gonna get back in.”

Chowdhry also captured some of the disruption in the crowd afterwards. “Big fight is broken out after the show,” he said in the video. “It’s properly kicked off out here this evening. There was some riots here and now some people are probably kicking off tonight … I want to keep out of harm’s way because I might get jumped.”

In a statement the comedian added: “We live in a time when some people feel entitled to disrupt live performances, affecting the experience for everyone else. Let me be absolutely clear: I do not condone violence in any form.

“Live entertainment should be a space where people come together to enjoy and engage – not to create conflict. Hopefully, nothing like this happens at the O2 Arena in London this Thursday – it’s a little trickier managing 10,000 people.”

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Chowdhry is not the only comedian to have an issue with hecklers in recent weeks. Peter Kay threw two rowdy audience members out of his show at the AO Arena in Manchester, saying the repeated disruptions had made it impossible to continue.

The week's best comedy on TV, radio and streaming

London's Boat Show celebrates its quarter-century and the rest of the week's live comedy picks

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"Stop getting Bond wrong!"

The best of the week's comedy on TV, radio and on demand

The 00s star has spent decades trying to escape the legacy of his beloved hidden camera show – only to realise it’s time to bring it back on stage. He talks about fooling a Python, hating Noel Edmonds … and why he can’t escape the giant phone