Fastest-selling stand-up debut

Frankie Boyle is claiming the record for the fastest selling debut stand-up DVD ever.

His live release has entered the official charts at No 8 – outselling any other comedian’s DVD. The only other stand-up in the top 40 is Bill Bailey’s Tinselworm, a new entry at No 23.

However, the charts are set to get even more lively next week, given the high number of new releases yesterday. According to Amazon, Michael McIntyre's new title is the current stand-up bestseller, outpacing Boyle this week. Plus pre-sales of Lee Evan’s Big are snapping at his heels.

Boyle’s spokesman said 15,000 copies of his DVD were sold in the first day, more than any other stand-up release so far this year. The figure is also more than Alan Carr, last year’s bestselling new act, achieved in his first day on sale.

The news comes despite the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand furore, suggesting there is still a healthy demand for bad-taste comedy. Boyle himself was criticised in the wake of the scandal when a joke he cracked about the Queen was repeated on Mock The Week.

His publicist said: ‘Recent events may have seen the acceptable boundaries of comedy disputed, but the British public’s appetite for Frankie Boyle’s lethal brand of distinctively un-PC wit has certainly not been dampened.’

Gennaro Castaldo from HMV added: ‘Comedy DVDs can sell in vast numbers, but there's usually always one or two artists who really seem to stand out and catch the public mood, and we feel this could well be Frankie Boyle's year.’

Boyle has played to more than 100,000 people during the course of his current live tour, with another 40,000 yet to see it.

Published: 18 Nov 2008