Music and laughter

At a time when happiness is more sought after than ever and harder than usual to find, Brian Donaldson looks at some comedy classics that are guaranteed to lift the spirits

Some great comedy to keep your spirits up, and a look at new releases from Tayside and Fife’s talented musicians.

Being able to laugh has never been more important in people’s lives as we attempt to turn back the tide on a global pandemic.

Brian Donaldson recommends a bunch of live comedy shows and sitcoms to stream which are sure to keep smiles on your faces

KEVIN BRIDGES: THE BRAND NEW TOUR

The natural successor to Billy Connolly’s crown as Scotland’s most exportable comedian, Clydebank’s Kevin Bridges has a similar human touch while not yet being jaded by celebrity status or press attention.

With his most recent touring show, he proved that there is an edge allied to his mass appeal as he entertained us with material about Obama, gazebos, school exams and, yep, “hoose rice”.

BBC iPlayer CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

He might manage to pick an argument with almost everyone who crosses his path, but “Larry David” (the Curb creator has always claimed his fictional version to be the man he wished he could be) is right approximately 98% of the time.

Over exactly 100 episodes he has nearly blinded Ben Stiller, had a painful encounter with a German shepherd, almost came to blows in Paris with a selfish car-parker, and was the innocent victim of a newspaper obituary that went horrendously wrong.

NOW TV FLO & JOAN: ALIVE ON STAGE

Musical comedy is the genre that’s arguably the most difficult to pull off within the humour game. For every Bill Bailey, Tim Minchin or Flight Of The Conchords, there are literally acres of failed funny acts who have gone on stage armed with a guitar or kazoo.

Flo & Joan’s unique selling point is that they’re squabbling siblings (they do happen to be sisters going by the real names of Nicola and Rosie Dempsey) and mix top tunes with barbed humour and seriously dark imagery.

Amazon Prime THE THICK OF IT

Glaswegian writer Armando Iannucci’s CV is a long and proud one, having moulded legendary characters such as Alan Partridge and Selina Meyers, but in The Thick Of It, he created a truly wonderful monster in the shape of Malcolm Tucker.

Based loosely-ish on Tony Blair’s spin doctor Alastair Campbell, Tucker (played with a certain vicious grace by Peter Capaldi) dominated TV comedy in the noughties with his inventive profanity and devilish manipulation.

BBC iPlayer

ROMESH RANGANATHAN: IRRATIONAL

Is Romesh Ranganathan an irrational man, or is it just everyone else who happens to be a little unhinged and unreasonable? By the end of this live show, it’s clear who Romesh thinks is at fault, as the man who is barely off the telly these days discusses a variety of topics including favourite offspring, cinema popcorn, middle-aged spread and mobile phones.

NOW TV STILL GAME

Quite obviously the finest Scottish sitcom of all time, the finale of Jack and Victor’s adventures in and around Craiglang would have melted the stoniest of hearts.

Wonderfully, there are a total of 61 episodes to enjoy before reaching that emotional moment as the pair (plus Isa, Winston, Navid, Boabby and Tam) get up to all manner of japes while being played by much younger men.

Netflix BILL HICKS: RELENTLESS

Still revered as one of the best stand-ups ever to grace a stage, the US comic left behind a powerful legacy of rabblerousing and socially aware comedy that admittedly veered a bit too close to the bone on occasion.

In this special from 1991 (he sadly died three years later), the many sides of Hicks are displayed as he railed against hypocrisy, fundamentalism, war, drugs policy, advertising, and artists who sold their soul: he’s angry and arrogant one minute, sensitive and poetic the next.

What he failed to be at any point was dull and irrelevant.

Next Up DERRY GIRLS

Over two seasons (don’t worry, there’s more to come folks), this band of bolshy lassies have taken us back to the less than golden time of 1990s Northern Ireland when The Troubles were causing endless misery and mayhem.

But through Lisa McGee’s script, the emphasis is on daftness as Erin, Orla and co navigate their way through school while dealing with awful parents in the house and British soldiers on every corner.

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