You’ve got to laugh
MARION McMULLEN checks out some of the best feel-good offerings currently streaming and available online from the nation’s top comics
WITH us all under lockdown, as the world continues to battle with the coronavirus, it can feel like there is not a lot to smile about, however, a host of comedy favourites are on hand to help everyone to look on the bright side of life.
TASKMASTER’S Alex Horne has fiendish ways of fighting the boredom of staying indoors. He is setting tasks from his own home for families to do to keep them entertained and as a nice diversion from everything that’s happening in the news.
The project is called Home Tasking and
Greg Davies will be reprising his role at
The Taskmaster and scoring people’s entries, with points awarded and a winner announced after each task.
Go to twitter.com/ AlexHorne/status
There is also The Horne Section Podcast. Raucous, ridiculous and surprisingly satisfying, it features host Alex and his band joined in the basement by a very special guest for some musical mayhem and plenty of laughs.
They were just set to finish their four series featuring the likes of Ed Gamble and Katy Wix but are now continuing to record remotely during the coronavirus outbreak so they can take suggestions direct from listeners who might need a bit of entertainment at home.
Listen at play.acast.com/s/ the-horne-section-podcast
The Horne Section’s two-hour comedy special The Horne Section Television Programme is available to stream on UKTV Play. It features their spontaneous and freewheeling combination of live music and comedy. Recorded live at the London Palladium, the jazz and comedy hybrid features guest performances from Nadine Coyle, Sue
Perkins, Sara
Pascoe and Joe Wilkinson.
COMEDIAN and Grumpy Old Woman favourite, Jenny Eclair is getting crafty to stay sane amid the coronavirius madness.
She has turned to daily arts and crafts sessions and you
can follow her projects on her Instagram and Twitter feed. She has also been working with her Older And Wider podcast co-host Judith Holder on special ‘selfisolation’ episodes. Their weekly podcast
(podcasts. apple.com/ph/ podcast/ older-andwiderpodcast)
see Jenny and Judith share insight, gossip and general news from the menopausal front and beyond. Tackling subjects such as the realities of being mother of the bride to online shopping tricks.
RICHARD HERRING – Stone Clearing (Twitch @rkherring) is the word’s first podcast dedicated to the ancient art of Stone Clearing (removing stones from a field and using them for better purpose).
It can now be live-streamed online, via Twitch and you can watch Richard as he attempts to build a wall around the huge field that can be seen from space... while serving as an introduction to the industry for the newcomer and hopefully providing tips for the many other stone clearers around the world. THE voice of Love Island’s Iain Stirling is welcoming members of the public to join him playing games on Twitch from Monday to Wednesday at 7pm.
The BAFTA award-winning stand-up is playing things like FIFA, Fortnight and puzzle games and dissecting old TV theme tunes, while connecting with his audience
via a chat box. All live and past live-streams are available at twitch. tv/iainstirling
CRITICALLY acclaimed stand-up comedian and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Chris Ramsey and his wife, actor, presenter, Radio host, Live host, singer, Vlogger and Instagram star, Rosie, launched their record-breaking and awardwinning podcast series straight from their South Shields living room – S **** ed. Married. Annoyed. With Chris & Rosie.
They said it was the only way they could have a conversation without being interrupted by a toddler or ending up staring at their phones. Chris’s new stand-up special, Approval Needed, filmed in front of a homecoming crowd at the Newcastle Tyne Theatre, is also available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
It includes his hilarious take on everything from big issues, to small issues, issues that haven’t happened yet, issues that won’t happen, and even issues he’s invented in his own head.
ED GAMBLE launched his new podcast Lifers last month. The eight-part Spotify Original sees him talking all things metal with some of the music genre’s biggest names. On his journey he meets some of the genre’s biggest names including Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Saxon’s Biff Byford and Motorhead’s Phil Campbell.
ROB DELANEY is the multi-awardwinning co-creator, co-writer and co-star of the hit TV show Catastrophe and his stand-up special, Jackie, is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Recorded at the Hackney Empire in London, it unpacks the horror and the joys of his life in the UK’s capital city: from swimming in tea, unearthing scammers, being a dad and a husband, the monarchy, the rise of the sexbots… and the disappearance of his friend Jackie.
MEANWHILE, go to Netflix to catch Russell Howard’s stand up show Recalibrate where the selfdeprecating comedian tackles politics, porn, childhood, social media and his own shortcomings. Yet he somehow keeps it positive.
GREG DAVIES’ stand-up special You Magnificent Beast is also available on Netflix and sees the British comedian revisiting terrifying dates, manscaping disasters and his father’s pranks.