The best comedy on demand

This week’s best comedy shows on demand.

The Strange Death Of The Establishment

Peter Cook would have been 80 yesterday. Radio 4 Extra marked the occasion by broadcasting the story of how gangsters closed down his satirical nightclub, The Establishment, in the 1960s.

The club was once the place to see a new kind of subversive comedy, dodging censorship rules whilst lashing out at the ruling classes and institutions. Big names like Frankie Howerd and Lenny Bruce appeared on the small stage. But the dangerous Soho underworld proved too much for Cook and his cohorts.

This documentary, first broadcast on Radio 4 in 2004, is now on iPlayer here.

And while we're remembering Cook, the documentary Peter Cook & Dudley Moore's Missing Sketches is available on All4. Cook also features Clive James's Postcard From London, first broadcast on BBC One in 1991, with more memories of the Establishment. It's available to watch here.

Asian Network Comedy

Another instalment of the occasional stand-up series came out on iPlayer yesterday, this one filmed in Wolverhampton and featuring Don Biswas, Emily Lloyd Saini, Bilal Zafar, Lovdev Barpaga and Omar Hamdi all hosted by Guz Khan. Watch here.

Comedian

Jerry Seinfeld’s 2002 documentary is essential viewing for all interested in what it takes to be a stand-up… not just the nuts and bolts of writing and performance, but also the state of mind of those who do it.

Seinfeld’s careful, studious approach, driven by nothing more than the love of the art itself, is contrasted with the naked, impatient ambition of Orny Adams. It may help that the older comic already had millions in the bank following the roaring success of his sitcom - but the fact he returns to small clubs to roadtest material when he doesn’t have to is testament to how addictive stand-up can be.

Comedian has just been added to Netflix, with whom Seinfeld has a lucrative deal.

Playing Games with Jimmy Pardo

Here’s a new comedy quiz show about pop culture trivia from producers of the long-running Never Not Funny podcast and, like that show, is fronted by comedian and veteran game show host Jimmy Pardo.

He’s joined by a different celebrity guest co-host every week – in the latest, third episode it’s Zach Galifianakis – and test three call-in contestants on movies, TV, music and headlines from the last five decades.

Listen here.

Published: 18 Nov 2017