A tight 5: April 10

JIM DAVIDSON has confirmed his run at the Edinburgh Fringe. He will be at the Assembly Hall for 24 dates in August, with his show No Further Action, about the allegations of historic sexual abuse made against him but dropped through lack of evidence, as well as his time in the Big Brother house. He said: ‘I can’t believe it’s taken me almost 40 years to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe. I had a rough ride for a while last year, but it’s great to be back on stage doing what I love, and the best way of dealing with a nightmare is to talk about it.’

MEANWHILE, Paul Merton will be at the Fringe in a comedy play written by, and co-starring, his wife Suki Webster. My Obsession is about a stand-up meeting his number one fan, and will be on at the Pleasance.

MARK THOMAS has successfully registered Bastardtrade as a trade mark, the name of an award he will hand out for companies with poor social, environmental or human rights records. Nominated for the first award – which will be handed out on the final night of his 100 Acts of Minor Dissent tour in Sheffield in May – are Coca-Cola, G4S and RBS. In addition, Shell has been awarded a Bastardtrade lifetime achievement prize, and John West a newcomer award.

RUSSELL HOWARD will perform to up to 85,000 people in eight days, after adding a string of arena gigs to his Wonderbox tour. Starting in London’s O2 on December 14, the comic will also visit Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Cardiff and Sheffield. Tickets are on sale now here.

ITV has announced that its biopic Tommy Cooper: Not Like That Like This will air on Monday April 21 at 9pm. Written by Men Behaving Badly creator Simon Nye and starring David Threlfall, the film focusses on the comedian’s 17-year affair with assistant Mary Kay.

Published: 10 Apr 2014