Wordaholics
Wordaholics is a comedy panel show hosted by Gyles Brandreth. It started airing on BBC Radio 4 in 2012. The third series was transmitted in September 2014. Format There are toponyms, abbreviations, euphemisms, old words, new words, cockney rhyming slang, Greek gobbledegook, plus the panellists' picks of the ugliest and the most beautiful words. It's the whole world of words in 28 minutes. Find out the meaning of words like giff-gaff, knock-knobbler and buckfitches; the difference between French marbles, French velvet and the French ache and hear the glorious poetry of the English language, as practiced by writers ranging from William Shakespeare to Vanilla Ice. The rounds include: * "Letter of the Week" * "Not in so Many Words" * "New Words for Old" * "You Can't Say That" Guests Guests include Alex Horne, Alun Cochrane, Arthur Smith, Dave Gorman, Ed Byrne, Hannah Gadsby, Helen Keen, Holly Walsh, Jack Whitehall, Jenny Eclair, Josh Widdicombe, Katy Brand, Lloyd Langford, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning Britain'' in the 1980s, and has been regularly featured on Channel 4's game show ''Countdown'' and the BBC's ''The One Show''. On radio, he makes frequent appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Just a Minute''. In 1992, Brandreth was elected to the House of Commons as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Chester constituency. He served until he was defeated in 1997, and resumed his career in the media. He has written both fiction and non-fiction books, and makes appearances as a public speaker. Early life Brandreth was born on 8 March 1948 in Wuppertal, West Germany, where his father, Charles Brandreth, was serving as a legal officer with the Allied Control Commission. He moved to London with his parents at th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Natalie Haynes
Natalie Louise Haynes (born 1974) is an English writer, broadcaster, classicist, and comedian. Early life Haynes was born in Birmingham, where she attended King Edward VI High School for Girls. She read Classics at Christ's College, Cambridge, and was also a member of Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club. Radio Haynes has been a panellist on '' Wordaholics'', ''We've Been Here Before'', ''Banter'', '' Quote... Unquote'', ''Personality Test'', and ''Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive'' on BBC Radio 4 and she has been an announcer on BBC Radio Four Extra. She has contributed to BBC 7 comedy review show ''Serious About Comedy'' and reviews films for '' Front Row''. Her stand-up has been featured in ''Front Row'' and '' Loose Ends'' on BBC Radio 4 and ''Spanking New'' on BBC 7. She appeared in the BBC Radio 4 ''Pick of the Fringe'' in 2004 and 2005. She has also appeared on Radio Five Live's ''Anita Anand'' Show, and '' MacAulay and Co.'' on BBC Scotland. In 2005 and 2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing '' agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robin Ince
Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox (physicist), Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career. Education After attending York House Preparatory school (United Kingdom), prep school, near Croxley Green in Hertfordshire, Ince was, from age 13, educated at Cheltenham College, a boarding independent school for boys in the spa town Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, followed by Royal Holloway, University of London, from which he graduated in English and Drama in 1991. Career Stand-up comedy In 1990, Ince first appeared at Greyfriars Kirkhouse at the Edinburgh Festival where Eddie Izzard was running a venue. At the time Ince was performing in a play called 'Shadow Walker' by Trevor Maynard. He had appeared at the Cafe Royal as part of the Edinburgh Fringe show 'Rubbernecker' alongside Stephen Merchant, Jimmy Carr and Ricky Gervais in 2001. As a friend of R ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richard Herring
Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy". Towards the end of the double act, Herring also worked as a writer, producing four plays. After Lee and Herring went their separate ways he co-wrote the sitcom ''Time Gentlemen Please'', but quickly returned to performance with concept-driven one-person shows like '' Talking Cock'', ''Hitler Moustache'' and ''Christ on a Bike'' as well as regular circuit stand-up. Herring has created thirteen of these stand-up shows since 2004, performing them for eleven consecutive years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with annual tours and a final performance recorded for DVD. His 2016–17 show was a 'best of' tour, drawing from these shows. Herring is recognised as a pioneer of comedy podcasting, initiall ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paul Sinha
Supriya Kumar "Paul" Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is a British quizzer, comedian, doctor and broadcaster. He has written and performed extensively on Radio 4, and is one of the six Chasers on the ITV game show '' The Chase''. Early life Supriya Kumar Sinha was born on 28 May 1970. He was educated at Dulwich College and St George's Hospital Medical School. Sinha is a former general practitioner, qualifying in the 1990s. While at medical school he developed a taste for the stage in St George's annual revue and refined his comedy as co-editor of the medical school newsletter, popularly known as the ''Slag Mag''. Career Stand-up comedy Sinha began performing stand-up while working as a junior doctor in hospitals in London and King's Lynn. His early material drew on his sexuality and ethnicity, with heavy use of puns. In 1999, he came third in the final of the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year. After several years of combining touring with his nascent medical career, Sinha's breakt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Milton Jones
Milton Hywel Jones (born 16 May 1964) is an English comedian. His style of humour is based on one-liners involving puns delivered in a deadpan and slightly neurotic style. Jones has had various shows on BBC Radio 4 and was a recurring guest panellist on ''Mock the Week''. He won the Perrier comedy award for best newcomer in 1996, and in 2012, ''Another Case of Milton Jones'' was awarded silver in the 'Best Comedy' category at the 30th Sony Radio Academy awards. Jones tours the UK periodically and is a regular performer at The Comedy Store in London and Manchester. Jones wrote the surrealist, partially biographical novel ''Where Do Comedians Go When They Die?: Journeys of a Stand-Up'' (2009). Personal life Jones was born and raised in Kew, London. His father is from South Wales. He attended Middlesex Polytechnic, gaining a diploma in dramatic art in 1985. He married Caroline Church in 1986 and they have three children. They live in the St Margarets area of Richmond upon Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. Early life Michael Wayne Rosen was born into a Jewish family in Harrow, Middlesex, on 7 May 1946. His ancestors were Jews from an area that is now Poland, Romania, and Russia, and his family had connections to The Workers Circle and the Jewish Labour Bund. His middle name was given to him in honour of Wayne C. Booth, a literary critic who was billeted with his father at Shrivenham American University. Rosen's father, educationalist Harold Rosen (1919–2008), was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, but grew up in the East End of London from the age of two after his mother left his father and returned to her native England. Harold attended Davenant Foundation School and then Regent Street Polytechnic. He was a secondary school teacher before becoming a professor of Eng ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lloyd Langford
Lloyd Langford (born 6 August 1983) is a Welsh comedian, comedy writer and voice artist. Early life and education Langford was born in Baglan, Neath Port Talbot. He studied film and television at the University of Warwick; he chose this because film interested him, he wanted to live somewhere new and did not want to lock himself into a vocation so early on. He was regularly MC at Warwick Comedy's weekly Sunday night stand-up show. Career Langford was a regular panellist on ''Ask Rhod Gilbert'' and has written additional material for TV shows '' Live at the Apollo'', ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' and '' The King is Dead''. He has provided audience warm-up on '' QI'' and been a contributor on '' Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience''. Langford has appeared as a guest on several comedy and panel shows, including ''Russell Howard's Good News'', ''The News Quiz'', ''The Now Show'', ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', '' QI'' and ''The Dog Ate My Homework'', ''Have You Been Paying Attention'' ( TV2 N ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Katy Brand
Katherine Frances Brand (born 1979), known as Katy Brand, is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series ''Katy Brand's Big Ass Show'' and for Comedy Lab ''Slap'' on Channel 4. Early life and education Brand was born in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1979, and enjoyed making people laugh with her impressions as a young child. Brand attended St Clement Danes School in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire. Following a summer holiday at 13 with friends who were evangelical Christians she embraced their faith and attended church five times a week. Motivated to read theology at Keble College, Oxford, she then lost her religious beliefs while a student. Interviewed for the ''Evening Standard'' in 2007, she commented: "After about a year, I realised it was mostly rubbish and that things are never as simple as they seem when you are 13". While at Oxford, she started to write and perform comedy, musicals and serious plays, joining the Oxford Revue and the university's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Josh Widdicombe
Joshua Michael Widdicombe (; born 8 April 1983) is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Last Leg'' (2012–present), ''Fighting Talk'' (2014–2016), ''Insert Name Here'' (2016–2019), ''Mock the Week'' (2012–2016) and his BBC Three sitcom ''Josh'' (2015–2017). He also won the first series of '' Taskmaster'' in 2015 and the show's first ''Champion of Champions'' special in 2017. During the 2020 Covid 19 lockdown, Widdicombe started the ''Parenting Hell'' podcast with fellow comedian Rob Beckett. Early life and education Widdicombe was born on 8 April 1983 in Hammersmith, London, and grew up in Haytor Vale, near Widecombe-in-the-Moor in Devon. He attended Ilsington Church Of England Primary School and South Dartmoor Community College, later studying sociology and linguistics at the University of Manchester. Career Widdicombe began performing live in 2008 and made it to the final of ''So You Think You're Funny'' at the Edinb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |