A tight 5: December 11

MICHAEL PALIN says that Monty Python may perform a more intimate warm-up show before the troupe’s appearances at the O2 Arena. He told Radio 5 Live’s Richard Bacon: ‘We may do a theatre warm-up... to see how the show moves along. My total ideal would be to play the Dead Parrot sketch to 500 people rather than 15,000.’

JASON BYRNE is facing court over claims he broke a 60km/h speed limit in Dublin. He was accused of speeding in May this year, but the case has been adjourned to February after neither the comic nor the prosecuting garda turned up for a hearing in Dublin District Court.

THE comedy video How Animals Eat Their Food, in which two men re-enact eating habits from the natural world, has been named the UK’s most popular YouTube clip of 2013. Globally it has had almost 90million views:

PHILL JUPITUS is to headline a London benefit gig for families affected by last month’s helicopter crash on The Cultha in Glasgow. Stand-up Wendy Wason, who used to live in the city, has put together the show at the Leicester Square Theatre next Tuesday after a Scottish fundraiser generated almost £20,000 for the Lord Provost's Appeal Fund. Tickets.

ARTHUR SMITH is to record a follow-up to his …Sings Leonard Cohen show for Radio 4. He returned to the theme for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, reflecting on dementia, enthusiasm, comedy and death between Cohen’s songs. And audiences attending the radio recording of Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen Again in London on January 11 are warned: ‘Please be aware that there is some nudity in this show’ – even though it is on radio.

Published: 11 Dec 2013