Just read the heated debate over the merits of Count Arthur Strong and thought I would stir the shit a bit more.

Did anyone catch Henning Wehn's show on Radio 2 this week? Still available for listening until next Saturday, and there's the rest of the series to come:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dd1l0

I know the very idea of a German stand up comedian will be shrugged off as a myth by many, but I find him funny, especially when he's taking the piss out of us Brits.

So who's on my side? And who can't stand him? Come on, give it your worst.

If you haven't seen this yet, worth having a few. Some may say this type of thing is only for "the kids", whoever they may be. But watching this on Thursday gave me the sort of glee and actual laugh out loud moments that telly seems to lack so much these days.

Sort of Pythonesque / Milliganesque in its use of costumes and silly characters with different voices, NFLC is genuinely like nothing else on telly at the moment. Made to look like it had a production budget of a tenner (mostly spent on Noel's hair), it has the same wide-eyed charm of the Mighty Boosh. Unsurprisingly of course, but it is in the same ball park if somewhat less story based.

In the first episode we are pitched with the eternal conundrum in life, does the drawing of Pele holding a tea cup show him kicking a ball or the saucer? It certainly blows Andy Warhol's mind.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, and I suggest it should be everyone's type of viewing, it can be viewed on 4od. Good times.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/noel-fieldings-luxury-comedy/4od#3281...

I enjoyed "The Rules" article this month with the comedy-sketch writers Jason Hazeley & Joel Morris. I am not prying into how much people like those guys get paid, but the mechanics of payment intrigues me. Are they paid a flat fee to present ideas regardless of whether any are used? Or is it pay-per-joke? Do they receive fees for repeats? And do they have copyright so if it is nicked by others they can claim a royalty?

I've only just recently started watching this programme (it passed me by for some reason), and I (and the GLW) now love it. Sharp, funny writing and great characters (Phil is wonderful...particularly his interaction with his son and his attempts to be hip, cool and the polar opposite of his bossy wife).

Oh and of course, Sofia Vergara...wow!

Try and catch it if you can, it's on Sky 1.

The Guardian had a piece online about it today
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/nov/15/modern-family-your-ne...

No, really. Beany's link in the Apple thread reminded me of this. It should appeal to anyone who works in IT.

I went to see Yo La Tengo last night at The Cockpit in Leeds on their current Spinning Wheel tour - the wheel span, we held our breathe - Spinners Choice came up and, due to a lot of, shall we say goading, from the audience, the girl (Fiona) who did the spin chose Comedy Theatre! Thereupon the members of YLT re-enacted an episode of Judge Judy that involved John Lydon being accused of assault by his ex drummer.

This was definitely the strangest thing Ive seen a band do on stage but has anyone seen anything weirder?

It turned out to be quite enjoyable actually and we also got an extra set of garage covers before they came back on for the main set. Also it was my first gig in Leeds and I was very impressed by the audience - no heckling during the Judge Judy bit, no talking during the quiet songs in the main set, barely any phones in the air compared to what I normally see at gigs these days.

My late mother's wish was for her funeral to end with some piano playing by Les Dawson, but she died before YouTube emerged. I can't see any downloadable files of Les's piano playing out there. How does one strip the sound from a video file like this?

...who had his eye poked out with a short stick.

This link has been passed around this morning it's a fascinating article written by Roseanne Barr about her time making her eponymous tv show. It's obviously a partial telling of the story but she offers many telling insights into tv shows and also the sort people like her who want to be famous. I'm pleased she's ended up living in Hawaii even if she's still seemingly very angry. Worth a read with your lunchtime butty.

http://nymag.com/arts/tv/upfronts/2011/roseanne-barr-2011-5/index3.html

Not new (made in 2007) but new to me.

Has anybody else been watching this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0116qjx/The_Night_Shift_Episode_1/

Very funny but not for the subtitle-averse.

Just wondering if anyone else has seen this, I did a search and the name Dewey Cox appears in only two threads. It's surprising to me as readers of magazines like Word would appear to be a prime audience.

I had zero expectations which undoubtedly helped but I thought it excellent.

If you've not seen it, it's a pastiche of musical bio-pics (primarily Walk the Line) and Dewey's journey takes us from the 50's through the protest era, past disco to the present day.

It's very crude but my only real complaint is they cast Jack Black as Paul McCartney! If he didn't identify himself by name you'd never guess who he was supposd to be.

This clip is from the mid-60s and Dewey is enduring a press conference.

P.S The wrong son died

I'm publishing a series of blog posts by legendary radio curmudgeon Ed Reardon on the Radio 4 blog. A sort of diary of the festive season. Not very festive, though. There are four in all and the first two are up now for your reading pleasure. Very funny, if you ask me... A modern-day J.B. Morton:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio4/edreardonsxmas/

When I was younger, and able to go out on shcool nights, I'd sometime visit the Comdey Store in London for Improv Night. Although the cast would vary a little, Jim was ever present, and it seemed that he always made me laugh more than any of the rest.

By the late 90's seeing him in Edinburgh the imact that MS was having on him was evident, but shows like My MS & Me in 2005 showed he was as funny as ever.

Via Twitter, I saw mention of a new blog, the link to which is below. It's not often something that I read on-line knocks me back, but this really did. In a week where I was feeling sorry for myself following a cold and the return of some tinnitus such humour and dignity in the face of such adversity has given me a very worthwhile perspective update.

http://mrjimsweeney.blogspot.com/

Something that might be of interest to some (but I'm sure not all) of the Massive....John Safran's Music Jamboree, a docu-comedy series about the music industry (at least what there was of it in Australia in 2002).

I know, he's an acquired taste, the voice particularly, and it is patchy, which is putting it kindly. But there are some wonderful moments. The Music Industry Mole (as a mole), the stunts (like faking your way into an exclusive nightclub dressed as Slip Knot), the cover versions played straight on ethnic instruments.....even the Jack Black-ish Hi Fidelity intro.

I was reminded of it when I happened to hear some aussie hip hop, and one of Safran's contentions that (and I'm paraphrasing from memory here) you can't laugh at aussie hip hop when the Fairlight sampler was an australian invention, so Australia has as much right to do hip hop as anyone else. Nice try. I can still laugh at aussie hip hop.