Phenomenal technology meets human stupidity

Andy Parsons shares his comedy favourties

Andy Parsons arrives in Edinburgh on Monday for a two-week run of his new show, Bafflingly Optimistic, before heading off on a UK tour. Here he shares his Perfect Playlist of comedy favourites.

If I was marooned on a desert island with no luxury items and no sign of Lauren Laverne, these are the six comedies that I would quite happily watch on repeat – four films, one sitcom and a musical special.

Dr Strangelove

The best alternative title in the history of film – ‘How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb’ – and contains Peter Sellers in three different roles, instead of the intended four roles which had included B52 bomber pilot and ‘H’ bomb straddler, Major T.J. ‘King’ Kong.

It mixes phenomenal technology with human stupidity, and given recent/current/prospective nuclear button guardians remains depressingly relevant 60 years on. You might even be able to see the BFI version, which includes the deleted pie fight ending.

Monty Python's Life of Brian

The Pythons' masterpiece and ludicrous to think that it was banned by so many local authorities including mine, where I was growing up in Devon and Cornwall.

Also incredible that it would never have got made if it hadn’t been for one of the Beatles, George Harrison, stepping in at the last minute with financing after EMI pulled the plug.

Groundhog Day

Simply the best 'if you could live your life over again' script. I watched it again with my 11-year-old recently and we were both crumpled with laughter on the sofa.

When it finished, he wanted to watch it again from the start, partly because it’s brilliant and partly because it was getting close to bedtime.

The Blues Brothers

One of the first films I watched repeatedly, would parrot the dialogue to anybody who would listen and was always very keen to try to order fried chicken and/or dry white toast.

Great music, some of the most destructive and expensive car chases in cinematic history, and a bunch of marching Neo-Nazis being forced to jump off a bridge into a river.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

…specifically the finale to series 3, The Grand Opening, which culminates in two minutes of adlibbed expletives. If you ever found yourself on a desert island and a passing boat failed to spot your desperate waving, you could cheer yourself up by shouting after the disappearing ship ‘Cock, cock, jism, grandma, cock’.

Bo Burnham: Inside

If you were Stranded in the middle of nowhere, you’d want to watch this special self-filmed entirely during lockdown about a man struggling with, and overcoming, isolation. You’d also want keyboards, a headtorch and a glitter globe.