Both real and fictional stories in this week's comedy on demand

This week’s comedy on demand.

The All New Angelos and Barry Podcast

Angelos Epithemiou and Barry From Watford are back in with a new podcast, which they confess is almost exactly the same as the old one, which wrapped up three months ago after 94 successful episodes.

So expect more silly, puerile – but quirkily funny – witterings about issues big, and mainly small. The first new episode dropped yesterday on iTunes.

Inside The Comedian

Also making a welcome return to the podosphere is David Reed’s spoof interview series, in which he talks guests through their comedy careers, asking them about incidents from their CV that will come as news to everyone as well as such probing questions as: ‘Who are you under all that skin?’

The ensuing improvisation makes for an hilarious, while subtly mocking the seriousness with which some other podcasts take the art of stand-up. It returned this week after a five-month hiatus with John Finnemore the guest on episode one.

Hear it, and all of series one, on Acast

Inside Jokes

For a more accurate take on what it takes to be a comedian comes this new Amazon Prime series, which follows seven New York and Los Angeles open-mincers auditioning for a coveted spot at the New Faces showcase at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival where they’ll get seen by Hollywood’s power-player.

A ‘launching pad to unlimited stardom’ comic Alonzo Bodden calls it, and the series certainly plays up the notion that it’s all-or-nothing for these stand-ups, there being much more drama in the idea that you only get one shot at the big time, rather then thousands of small steps that’s probably closer to reality.

But the series does paint a realistic any sympathetic portrait of people putting their all into following their dreams – struggling to maintain day jobs and relationships in doing so. The little boy praying for his father do be funny is touchingly poignant.

It could be seen as a bit like the background story segments on the likes of X-Factor, but for the fact the portraits are very detailed, bringing empathy to the comics, who are all good at their jobs. This is not 'laughing at the losers', but paying tribute to the dedication it takes to make it in this business.

Watch here.

And if you enjoy this, the 2014 film I Am Road Comic, featuring Maria Bamford, W. Kamau Bell and Doug Benson is also available on Amazon Prime.

Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross and Dave Attell

Kings of the roast Jeff Ross and Dave Attell trade insults in this new Netflix series Bumping Mics, joined on stage at New York's Comedy Cellar with guests including Bob Saget, Hasan Minhaj, Michelle Wolf, Gilbert Gottfried, and Michael Che.

But through all the zingers, the lifelong friendship between the fiftysomething comics shines through, especially as they go out on to the streets of Manhattan, chatting about their comedy.

Watch here

Lauren Pattison: Lady Muck

Lauren Pattison’s Lady Muck – nominated for best newcomer at last year’s Edinburg Fringe – has been released on subscription stand-up service NextUp. It tells of her being ghosted by her ex-boyfriend, while navigating a lack of friends, money and self-confidence. Pattison said: ‘Recording it at the Stand in Newcastle where I performed my first gig five years earlier, made it all the more poignant.’ Watch here

The Skydiver And The Scarecrow

Stand-up Gordon Southern wrote this ‘weird little dark’ fable, which was elegantly brought to life by film-maker Ren Thackham as an eight-minute short. The stylish film went on to pick up armfuls of awards, with laurels from the likes of the Sydney Indie Film Festival and the Blow Up International Arthouse Fest.

Now it’s available to view, right here:

F Is For Family

The third season of Bill Burr’s animated comedy dropped on Netflix yesterday with the comic – who co-created the series – reprising his role as a disillusioned, short-tempered, foul-mouthed, Irish-American father of three: a delinquent pot smoker, a shy outsider prone to burst of anger and a smart, manipulative daughter who hides it under an apparently sweet exterior.

Watch here

Published: 1 Dec 2018