Richard Sandling - Winner of the 2007 'So You Think You're Funny' Awards - On Film Hooliganism

The smiling gentleman above is Richard Sandling; winner of this year's 'So You Think You're Funny?' competition.

As I was in town talent scouting for ConstantComedy.com I of course attended the various heats and watched the finals with interest.  There was the usual observational stuff, everyone was polished, but Richard stood out for me with his hard-core/in-depth/must have gone over the heads of much of the audience film trivia material.

I approached him after the show and cajoled him to be on CCC, (as well as the Podcast). The clip below gives you a flavour of his act.

The Edinburgh Fringe is Over; Thank Christ

The Fringe is over Dear Reader.  Thank Christ.  3 Weeks on the trot getting at most 5 hours of sleep a night is a lot to ask of this old, old man.

Snapped the above photo right before seeing Limmy at the Strand.

Surveillance Cameras previously on LTA

I've got 4 more Podcasts in the 'can' as they say; Interviews with Tom Deacon, Limmy, Prince Abdi and Richard Sandling.

I'll get them online as soon as I can.

In the meantime here's my pick of the Fringe - some acts to look out for if they come to your neighbourhood:

Pegabovine
Tony Law's the Revenge of the Dog of Time
Vincent and Allen
Susan McIntosh
A Porthole into the Minds of the Vanquished

Edinburgh Fringe Podcast Action! Part 13 - Zoe Lyons Nominated for the IF Best Newcomer Award

Had the pleasure of working with Zoe Lyons a couple of months back for 'Project X' - great to hear she's just been nominated for the IF Best Newcomer Award at the Fringe this year!

The IF used to be the Perrier Awards, which are pretty damn prestigious Dear Reader.  All of us at LTA and CCC wish her good luck.  Presented below for your entertainment is Zoe's take on the recent  smoking ban in England.

P.S. Had a chance to see another of the nominees, Mickey Flanagan, at the Just for Laughs Showcase last night - if he's in your town go see him - a funny, funny guy).

Edinburgh Fringe Podcast Action! Part 12 - Tony Law and Limmy

Ok.  Am still here.

Running on 3 hours of sleep a night, espresso and comedy.  Oh, so much comedy Dear Readers.  I have many an anecdote to share with you but will save it for the Podcast.

Ok.

Here's a few shows I've enjoyed recently:

Tony Law and the Revenge of the Dog of Time
This show is whimsical, loopy, magical and dare I say it:
whimsical.

Nothing new you might say - we've seen it before with the Boosh.

But.

But.  There's something in Tony Law's delivery that's new.  And trust me folks, after you've seen stand-up after stand-up doing material about Sat-Navs...Sat Navs!  Sample joke:

"Does anybody here have a Sat-Nav?  What's that all about then?"

anything new is good.

Limmy's Show!
LTA Listener Brabazon was all hot on my seeing Limmy.  Am glad he hectored me like he did.  Internet phenomenon Limmy, (Internet Phenomenon?  Man...in the future you're not famous for fifteen minutes...you're famous to fifteen people...), was great. 

He's a natural storyteller and his videos have a wonderful tension and show a very sharp eye.  Would love to have him on the show and will hector him Brabazon-style to be on.

Right, I'll leave you with some ConstantComedy.com goodness:  Geoff Norcott is Unemployable:

Edinburgh Fringe Podcast Action! Part 11 - Already Dead

Hey there Dear Listeners - where are the daily Podcasts I hear you ask?

Well, as usual I was too ambitious.  To scout talent, record and edit video for ConstantComedy.com and do a daily podcast is a lot to chew off when you're also seeing friends' shows, schmoozing, doing your photography thing and so much else - I submit the above photo to illustrate my current state of mind - notice how I look like I have a marine's 'thousand yard stare'...if the marine was on roofies.

The lovely lady to my left, to the right of you Dear Listeners, is the lovely Susan McIntosh, (who the Scotsman in a 4-Star review for her new show 'Spawn and Die' refers to as 'an Amazonian Queen of Comedy'!).

Susan and I have been spending some late nights together at the Library Bar writing scripts for radio - hopefully they're full of the ha-ha.  The pic above was taken while waiting to go on Fringe FM for an interview - we had to wait awhile as there was a scheduling mix-up involving a group of English University students in matching shell-suits who were there to promote their hilarious new Dickens spoof show. 

Hilarious. 

Lord. 

Running on espresso and 4 hours sleep a night. 

Right. OK. 

One more week to go.

I leave you with another vid from ConstantComedy.com; this is not one that I've shot - a user of the site by the name of Chris McCreedy has just uploaded it.  I present it for your enjoyment and edification.

More ConstantComedy.com Goodness; Jay Foreman Has Had Better Days

Shot in our fabulous flat here in  Edinburgh -  the Fringe action just keeps on going.

Diebold Rebrands

So Diebold is changing their name to, I shit you not, 'Premier Election Solutions'.

Why not just re-brand as 'Honest McTrusty's Dependa Vote' if they're gonna go to the effort of ordering new stationary?

F*ckers.

More ConstantComedy.com Goodness; Revels Chortle Student Comedy Awards Winner Tom Deacon on Australian Hip-Hop

In ConstantComedy news here's the first vid I've done with Tom Deacon who's just won the 2007 Student Comedy Award here in the UK.  Though he's young and inexperienced he's definitely got a presence and tore up the room at the awards!

Fox Show 1/2 Hour News Hour Fails For All The Obvious Reasons

Yes, it has been cancelled.  The 1/2 Hour News Hour previously on LTA:

The America Show

After watching the embedded clip above I find no reason to go into detail about why the show was asked to cease production.  I find the whole thing has a creepy fascist, anti-life, anti-art vibe; I mean who the fuck doesn't like art? 

If you don't then email me and I'll take you around some galleries no matter what city I'm in at the time to explain to you the transformative nature of personal creativity.

These people just hate and hate. But who specifically do they hate? And why?

The Bulletproof Backpack / My Child's Pack; aka 'Why Are Americans So F**cking Scared?'

Via Metafilter:

My Child's Pack