02/08/2007 … NEW channel Virgin 1 has won the rights to air Eddie Izzard’s hit US drama The Riches, when it launches this autumn.

Belly goes up...

Video footage of Underbelly launch

02/08/2007 … The Underbelly has officially launched its Edinburgh Fringe programme, the first major event at this year’s festival.

02/08/2007 … MONTY PYTHON's Spamalot has extended its run in London's West End to March 1, 2008.

02/08/2007 … SARAH SILVERMAN, Bill Maher, Denis Leary and Janeane Garofalo are among the stand-ups headlining the New York Comedy Festival from November 6 to 11, organisers announced…

01/08/2007 … STAND-UP Julia Morris is to front a 13-part reality TV show in her native Australia, The Singing Office, which will hunt for singing stars by auditioning workers…

Cooper turns to bronze

Tommy's statue nearly ready

01/08/2007 … Anthony Hopkins is to unveil a 9ft statue of Tommy Cooper in Caerphilly later this year.

Brand on the road

Russell to retrace Kerouac's route

01/08/2007 … Russell Brand is to retrace beat generation author Jack Kerouac’s footsteps across America for a new BBC show.

schall01

01/08/2007 … NEW YORK comic Kristen Schaal, who is about to play the Assembly Rooms at the Edinburgh Fringe, has just been hired as a writing consultant on the next season of…