A tight 5: April 16

COMEDY agents Avalon have taken over the estates of Kenny Everett and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore after buying a rival agency. They have acquired Billy Marsh Associates, set up by the late, legendary theatrical agent and who manage the estates and whose other current clients include Jon Culshaw, Esther Rantzen and Fiona Phillips.

ITV's new topical comedy puppet show Newzoids attracted 3.7 million viewers last night, or just under 18 per cent of the total 9pm audience. That's slightly below the slot average of 4.1million. It was followed by maternity ward sitcom The Deliver Man, which won 2.6million viewers, against a slot average of 4.3million.

COMEDY CENTRAL UK has picked up the rights to Broad City, the sitcom backed by Amy Poehler and starring Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer as twentysomething best friends in New York. It debuts here on April 28.
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PAKISTANI comedian Sami Shah is to present a two-part Radio 4 series called A Beginner's Guide To Pakistan, promising a comic insight into his nation's history, heritage and culture. The show will be recorded at Birmingham's Midlands Arts Centre on May 11, after Shah performs a week of gigs at London's Soho Theatre. Click here to be in the audience. He was previously heard on Meera Syal's Asian Comedy Night for the BBC Asian Network in 2012 – when his performance was recorded via Skype. (Our review of that gig).

THE OFFICIAL minutes of Mark Watson's 27 hour show for Comic Relief have been published… all 827 pages of them. The document was compiled by Isabelle Adam, the producer of Comedy Club 4 Kids, and is available here. She is also asking for donations to the charity for her efforts.

Published: 16 Apr 2015