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Cambridge Footlights Revue
The ''Cambridge Footlights Revue'' is an annual revue by the Footlights Club - a group of comedy writer-performers at the University of Cambridge. Three of the more notable revues are detailed below. 1963 revue "A Clump of Plinths" — "Cambridge Circus" The 1963 revue, entitled "A Clump of Plinths" (later retitled ''Cambridge Circus''), played at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1963 before opening at West End in London on 10 July 1963. Unfortunately, the revised title sometimes confused audiences, as it was not actually playing at Cambridge Circus itself. "Cambridge Circus" then toured New Zealand in July and August 1964, where they recorded a television special and four radio shows. which were eventually broadcast in November and December 1964. The radio shows were rediscovered in the New Zealand national sound and film archives in 2015 and broadcast again in January 2016 under the title "Goodie, Goodie! Python, Python! The Cambridge Circus Tapes" The New Zealand tou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932. Though most famous for their visual spectacle, revues frequently satirized contemporary figures, news or literature. Similar to the related subforms of operetta and musical theatre, the revue art form brings together music, dance and sketches to create a compelling show. In contrast to these, however, revue does not have an overarching storyline. Rather, a general theme serves as the motto for a loosely-related series of acts that alternate between solo performances and dance ensembles. Owing to high ticket prices, ribald publicity campaigns and the occasional use of prurient material, the revue was typically patronized by audience members who earned more and felt even less restricted by middle-class ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Lynn
Jonathan Lynn (born 3 April 1943) is an English stage and film director, producer, writer, and actor. He is known for directing the comedy films such as ''Clue'', ''Nuns on the Run'', ''My Cousin Vinny'', and ''The Whole Nine Yards''. He also co-created and co-wrote the television series ''Yes Minister''. Early life Lynn was born in Bath, Somerset, the son of physician Robin Lynn and sculptor Ruth Helen (née Eban), whose first cousin on her mother's side was the neurologist Oliver Sacks. Another cousin, Caroline Sacks, married Nicholas Samuel, 5th Viscount Bearsted. Lynn was educated at Kingswood School, Bath, between 1954 and 1961, after which he studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge. (His maternal uncle, Israeli statesman Abba Eban, had also studied at Cambridge in the 1930s.) There he participated in the Cambridge University Footlights Club revue '' Cambridge Circus'' (appearing with the revue in 1964 on Broadway and on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''). Career Acting Lynn's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Tyler (producer)
David Tyler (born 24 June 1961) is a British television and radio comedy producer, executive producer, and director. He is co-founder of the independent production company Pozzitive Television, which he set up in 1992 with Geoff Posner. Pozzitive Television Since the founding of Pozzitive Television, Tyler has been responsible for working on various British comedy programmes. The shows that he has worked on have won numerous awards including several BAFTAs, two Golden Roses and a silver Rose d'Or at the Rose d'Or awards in Montreux, seven Sony Awards, and multiple Comedy.co.uk and RTS awards. His credits include BBC Two sitcom '' Three Fights, Two Weddings and a Funeral'', which won the 1994 BAFTA for Best Comedy (Programme or Series); the BBC Radio 4 stand-up comedy show ''Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation'', which was the first full-fledged comedy show from an independent production company for Radio 4, and won a bronze Sony Award in 1995; Victoria Wood's television sitcom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Slattery
Tony Declan James Slattery (born 9 November 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He appeared on British television regularly from the mid-1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' His serious and comedic film work has included roles in ''The Crying Game'', ''Peter's Friends'' and ''How to Get Ahead in Advertising''. Early life and education Slattery was born in Stonebridge, north London, into a working-class background, the fifth and last child of Catholic Irish immigrants, Michael and Margaret Slattery. In 2019 Slattery revealed that he had been repeatedly sexually abused by a priest at the age of eight, but had never told his parents; he believes the event contributed to his unstable character later in life. He was educated at Gunnersbury Boys' Grammar School in west London and won a scholarship to read Modern and Medieval Languages at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, specialising in French literature and Spanish poetry. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Ravens
Janet "Jan" Ravens (born 14 May 1958) is an English actress and impressionist, known for her voice work on ''Spitting Image'' and '' Dead Ringers''. Early life Ravens grew up in Hoylake, then in Cheshire, on the west side of the Wirral with her father, a local government clerk, and her mother, a nurse. She attended West Kirby Grammar School for Girls, where Radio 4 presenter Sheila McClennon (''You and Yours'') was two years below her. She studied education studies and drama at Homerton College, Cambridge and was first female president of Cambridge University Footlights Club in 1979–80. Career After Cambridge, Ravens became a radio comedy producer. Her first television role was in the ITV series, 'Just Amazing'. She joined Jasper Carrott's comedy, ''Carrott's Lib'', in 1983. In 1986, she played the heavily pregnant Vanessa Plowright in the "Tourists" episode of ''Farrington of the F.O.'' (broadcast 13 March). In 1986, she accompanied then husband Steve Brown on the Capital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penny Dwyer
Penny Dwyer (born Penelope Rosemary Dwyer; 24 September 1953 – 4 September 2003) was a British comedy writer and performer, noted for being a member of the Cambridge Footlights revue ''The Cellar Tapes'' which won the inaugural Perrier Comedy Awards in 1981. The other performers in ''The Cellar Tapes'' were Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Tony Slattery and Paul Shearer. Early life and education Dwyer was educated at the University of Cambridge. Career Dwyer worked as a writer and performer in Cambridge throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s; however, unlike her fellow Perrier winners, she chose not to pursue a full-time career in the entertainment business. Instead becoming a metallurgist, Dwyer had a major role in the construction of the Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the Engli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globes, a British Academy Television Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Born in London to actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law, Thompson was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she became a member of the Footlights troupe, and appeared in the comedy sketch series ''Alfresco'' (1983–1984). In 1985, she starred in the West End revival of the musical '' Me and My Girl'', which was a breakthrough in her career. In 1987, she came to prominence for her performances in two BBC TV series, ''Tutti Frutti'' and '' Fortunes of War'', winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her work on both series. In the early 1990s, she often collaborated with then-husband, actor and director Kenneth Branagh, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a number of projects during the 1980s and 1990s, including the BBC sketch comedy series ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' and the P. G. Wodehouse adaptation ''Jeeves and Wooster''. He appeared in two series of the period comedy ''Blackadder'' (1987–1989) alongside Rowan Atkinson. From 2004 to 2012, Laurie starred as Dr. Gregory House on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox medical drama series ''House (TV series), House''. He received two Golden Globe Awards and many other accolades for the role, and was listed in the 2011 ''Guinness World Records'' as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama, earning £250,000 ($409,000) per episode of ''House''. His other television credits include arm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' (1989–1995) and ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990–1993). He also starred in the sketch series ''Alfresco'' (1983–1984) alongside Laurie, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane, and in ''Blackadder'' (1986–1989) alongside Rowan Atkinson. Since 2011, he has served as president of the mental health charity Mind. Fry's film acting roles include playing his idol Oscar Wilde in the film ''Wilde'' (1997), for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor; Inspector Thompson in Robert Altman's murder mystery ''Gosford Park'' (2001); and Mr. Johnson in Whit Stillman's ''Love & Friendship'' (2016). He has also made appearances in the films ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' A Fish Called Wanda'' (1988), ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perrier Comedy Award
The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Established in 1981, they are the most prestigious comedy prize in the United Kingdom. The awards have been directed and produced by Nica Burns since 1984. Format The main prize, which was for many years the only prize, and is now known as the Best Comedy Show, is awarded "for the funniest, most outstanding, up-and-coming comic / comedy show / act" at the Fringe. The winner receives a cash prize of £10,000. The Best Newcomer Award category was introduced in 1992 for Harry Hill, and is given to the best "performer or act who is performing their first full-length show (50 minutes or more)". The prize is £5,000. Newcomers are eligible for the Best Comedy Show Award, but no act is allowed to appear on both shortlists in the same year. A f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' (often abbreviated as ''ISIRTA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme that originated from the 1964 Cambridge University Footlights revue, '' Cambridge Circus''. This is a scripted sketch show. It had a devoted youth following, with the live tapings enjoying very lively audiences, particularly when familiar themes and characters were repeated; a tradition that continued into the spinoff show ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''. The show ran for nine series and was first broadcast on 3 April 1964, a pilot programme having been broadcast on 30 December 1963 under the title "Cambridge Circus", on the BBC Home Service (renamed BBC Radio 4 in September 1967). Series 1 comprised three episodes. Subsequent series were broadcast on the BBC Light Programme (renamed BBC Radio 2 in September 1967). Series 2 (1965) had nine episodes, series 3 (1966) and series 6 through 8 (1968 through 1970) each had thirteen episodes, while series 4 (1966–67) and 5 (1967) both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emmerdale
''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ''Emmerdale Farm'' was first broadcast on 16 October 1972. Interior scenes have been filmed at the Leeds Studios since its inception. Exterior scenes were first filmed in Arncliffe in Littondale, and the series may have taken its name from Amerdale, an ancient name of Littondale. Exterior scenes were later shot at Esholt, but are now shot at a purpose-built set on the Harewood estate. The programme is broadcast in every ITV region. The series originally aired during the afternoon and was intended to be a three-month television series. However, more episodes were ordered and transmitted during the daytime until 1978, when it was moved to an early-evening prime time slot in most regions. In the late 1980s, the soap was met with a new produ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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