Glue on the Radio

The wait is finally at an end. The Magic Glue, our radio pilot, is on Radio Scotland (92.4 - 94.7 FM and 810 MW) this Friday 9th January at 11.30am. Yes, that's right Friday MORNING. I've already had a few folk asking if I meant PM. I don't, I mean 11.30AM.

That is not the only time you can hear the show however. You can also hear it repeated at 8.30pm the following day, Saturday the 10th.

But you don't have to listen to it on the radio. You can also hear it online. It's repeated as part of The Comedy Zone at 00.30am that night. This show is available online for a week afterwards. The Comedy Zone is about five hours long, but The Magic Glue should be right at the start of it. The rest of the shows in the section have been selected based on suggestions by Fraser and I. Plus we'll be presenting it, so even more chances to hear our voices on the radio.

You can listen to the show on digital radio, through freeview on your telly and probably for a week afterwards on the iplayer. The many ways to listen to Radio Scotland can be found at this link.

There's a Facebook event thing that you can add your 'attendance' and comments to if you're on Facebook.

We were delighted with the recording itself and we're pretty happy with the edit of the show. So we'll just sit back and see how it's received or not by the public at large.

Tom's Films of 2008

It's time for my annual round up of movies I've seen over the year.

1. Gone Baby Gone

My number one film of the year should really have been released in the UK in 2007. However, due to the Madeline McCann case its release was delayed by more than 6 months. Directed by Ben Affleck and based on the novel by Dennis Lehane the film follows two private detectives as they join the search for a missing girl.

Casey Affleck was excellent in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but for my money this is a career best performance. Amy Ryan is also wonderful as the mother.

The film poses many questions along the road and the ending really blew me away. Perhaps Ben should chuck the acting in and stick to directing in future.

2. The Dark Knight

A rollercoaster from start to finish. Heath Ledger deserves every posthumous honour going for his outstanding performance. It played like a real horror movie and even although Ledger was by far the stand out the rest of the heavyweight acting talent Bale, Oldman and Eckhart were all on form too.

3. Man on Wire

The year's best documentary. The film looks at Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Although there's no actual footage of the event the intensity of the film and the stills on show mean you don't even notice. Like all great documentaries looking at an individual, Petit is a complex character and even although he's likeable for the most part you're left wondering if he wasn't actually a bit of a dick.

4. Lars and the Real Girl

Ryan Gosling turns in a wonderful performance as a shy man in love with a blow up doll. It seems odd but it's a film that has real heart and depth.

5. Step Brothers

The funniest film of the year. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are 40 year olds who have been living the life of perrenial 13 year olds in their respective single parent families. Until that is their parents fall in love and they all move in together. The step brothers relationship is one hilarity after another. The bunk bed scene I could see coming from nine miles away, but I still laughed like a drain when it happened.

6. Juno

A smart, witty script and some crackling performances from Ellen Page and Michael Cera as well as great supprt from Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, JK Simmons and Allison Janey.

7. No Country For Old Men

Totally gripping throughout. Classic Coen Brothers. Well paced, stunning performances from Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin and a solid supporting cast. I was a little let down by the last 20 minutes or so but I loved it nonetheless.

8. There Will Be Blood

A powerhouse of a performance from Daniel Day Lewis, fantastic direction from Paul Thomas Anderson and a great score from Jonny Greenwood. A lot of people have found fault with the last 20 minutes, but I really didn't see anything wrong with it.

9. Pineapple Express

'Thug Life'. James Franco seemed to steal this one for most people but for me it was Danny McBride who put in the star turn. A great drug buddy comedy from the pens of last year's Superbad scribes Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

10. Let the Right One In

This Swedish romantic horror film is in turns sweet and sinister. A boy, bullied at school falls for the little girl next door who happens to be a vampire. The performances, cinematography and direction are all first class. There are several really shocking moments and it's a film that stays with you long after it has ended. There is of course an American remake currently in development. Cloverfield director Matt Reeves is directing and also adapting the source novel from scratch.

11. In Bruges

This tale of Irish hitmen laying low in Belgium really hit the mark. Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes all give performances that hold your attention throughout. Here's an article from the BBC on how the film transformed the tourist industry in Bruges.

12. Burn After Reading

The second Coen Brothers film on my list. This one seemed to get dismissed by a lot of people as 'not being about anything'. It's not as heavyweight as No Country.. or as engaging as Fargo, but it's a solid comedy thriller with fantastic turns from Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Frances McDormand. Richard Jenkins also provides a lovely line in pathos in his role as the lovesick fitness centre manager. Nice also to see David 'Sledge Hammer' Rasche in a movie role.

13. Charlie Wilson’s War

Directed by Mike Nichols, written by Aaron Sorkin, and starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and the mighty Philip Seymour Hoffman. How could you go wrong?

14. The Savages

Philip Seymour Hoffman again, this time with Laura Linney as brother and sister trying to care for their ailing father. Two of the best actors in the business and a warm and funny script.

15. Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. is at his best here as Tony Stark/Iron Man. There is a good supporting cast but it's the style and swagger of Downey Jr. that walks away with the movie.

16. Tropic Thunder

"Never go full retard." Robert Downey Jr. once again alongside Ben Stiller, Jack Black and a ridiculous Tom Cruise. This turned out to be controversial, although I couldn't really see what all the fuss was about. A solid comedy with a starry cast.

17. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Mark Herman serves up an understated gem. Based on the novel by John Boyne it centres around the 8 year old son of a Nazi officer and the boy he befriends in a concentration camp. This is an article from the BBC on the film's suitability for children.

18. Somers Town

Directed by Shane Meadows this tells the story of two teenage boys out of place in London. It's an enjoyable tale, by turns happy and sad.

19. Son of Rambow

An amusing British film as two boys attempt to make their own version of Rambo. The dialogue always seems like it's been written rather than actually coming from the children, but that's a minor complaint for an enjoyable film.

20. Cloverfield

An enjoyable monster-runs-wild-through-New York romp.


As for stinkers, well there were a few of those too, but the two that really stood out for me are below.

88 Minutes was one of the worst things you’re likely to see at the cinema this or any other year with Al Pacino apparently playing a grown up Ralph Wiggum in a Simpsons live action murder mystery. Righteous Kill was arguably worse because it sullied the reputations of both Pacino and Robert De Niro.

Feel free to stick your own films of the year in the comments.

Tom's Films of 2007

Tom's Films of 2006

Tom's Films of 2005

Tom's Films of 2004

Musical Inspiration

This is a good article from last Saturday's Guardian about people who were the inspiration for famous songs. Down below is one of those songs.

Stereolab Live

I went to see Stereolab at Oran Mor last night. They were excellent. They played a really lively and upbeat set. Although their show was in support of their new album 'Chemical Chords', the songs that got the biggest reaction from the crowd were 'Ping Pong' (from 1994) and 'French Disko' (from 1993).

Singer Lætitia Sadier was probably even more gorgeous than I remember her from the band's heyday. Support act The Week That Was were also very good. Their self titled album has been featuring in many websites' best of the year lists.

More photos here. Down below is some footage of them playing Paris last month.

Down the Wing's Old Firm Week

It's Old Firm week at my football blog Down the Wing. On Saturday I went to Ibrox to see Rangers demolish Hamilton Accies, after an early scare. Last night I was at Celtic Park to watch Celtic take on Villareal in the Champions League.

I'm now only 30 games short of my 50 game target.

Kids' Interview on TSOYA

Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald from Kids in the Hall are interviewed by Jesse Thorn for the Sound of Young America at this link. Their chat covers the group's early days as well as their recent tour.

Seinfeld Meets Steinberg

Jerry Seinfeld interviewed by David Steinberg in the LA Times.

"When you’re in comedy, people always come up and say, “Oh, it must be so hard.” It really isn’t hard unless you’re not good at it. If you can do it, it’s really kind of fun and easy."

New Kids TV Details

Dave Foley provides some more details on the Kids in the Hall's new TV series 'Death Comes to Town' in this interview.

Brand Hammers Hitler

Russell Brand points out in his Guardian column that he has been named the second worst celebrity football fan in history - behind Adolf Hitler.

"It is however somewhat surprising to see the Führer described as a celebrity as I'd always seen him as more of a fascist dictator but, as you know, a good many papers in England believe that to be a position worthy of celebration."

A Winter Wonderland

I'm surprised the plums who organised this theme park didn't get some comedians on board to provide the entertainment. It sounds just the kind of half-arsed scam that comics would end up playing.

Carbona Not Glue

I can't make it, but I wish I could, this Saturday night Scotland's finest Ramones tribute act Carbona Not Glue play Henry's Cellar Bar in Edinburgh.

Down below you can see them perform 'The KKK Took My Baby Away'. There are more videos and audio on their website.

Scotland the Mental

Another cracking story from the BBC, reporting on the kind of thing that surely only happens in Scotland.

Developments?

Not exactly super solid news, but a chink of light for those of us keen to see more of the best television comedy of recent years.

The Yeard

Will from Whiskerino has grown a Yeard. Have a look.


Year + Beard = Yeard from Will Jardine on Vimeo.

Kids in the Hall Backstage in Vegas

Some video of a Q & A Kids in the Hall did after appearing at Caesars Palace for The Comedy Festival. Via.

"This is Bullshit"

A cracking bit of stand-up about technology from Louis CK as he chats to Conan O'Brien.

Oscar Roundtable

From The Hollywood Reporter six screenwriters sit around and discuss their writing methods. In their number is Thomas McCarthy writer/director of The Visitor and The Station Agent, but also known for his performance as journalist Scott Templeton in the final season of The Wire.

75 Comics Being Turned Into Films

The Den of Geek lists 75 comics currently being turned into movies.

Runaways (2011)
This Marvel comics original finds teenagers fleeing to make up the sins of their parents, who they have discovered to be covert super-villains. A finished script is expected by early 2009 and Runaways is said to spearhead Marvel's post-Avengers strategy.

Red (2010)
Warren Ellis's 2003 thriller - about a retired CIA assassin that a new administration feel is a threat - is the first DC property to leave the fold for other producers, and will be produced by Transformers/2's Lorenzo di Bonaventura, amongst others.

"The Wait is Over"

The new Star Trek trailer looks cracking.

Esquire's 7 Greatest Stories

To celebrate their 75th anniversary Esquire magazine have put their 7 greatest ever stories online to read in full.

Shetland Stand-Up

sandy nelson @ The Stand- Glasgow
Originally uploaded by Heidi Kuisma

Glue mucker and Shetland resident Sandy Nelson has set up an evening class in stand-up on the island of Unst. It sounds like it'd be a fun course.

There he is there at the right warming up the audience a treat at the recording of the Glue pilot in July.

The End of the Trailer Park

Sad news from the world of Candaian television as Trailer Park Boys is set to end.

Here's the first 8 minutes of season 1 episode 1. Thanks to Graeme for the heads up.

What Obama Can Learn From The Wire

As we learned during the campaign one of Obama's favourite TV shows is The Wire. The Huffington Post looks at what the President Elect can learn from his favourite show.

I think I would just be happy if he went around saying "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeet" in the style of Clay Davis.

Politics

Clearly Obama paid close attention to Mayor Tommy Carcetti's campaign against Mayor Royce. Both Obama and Carcetti were good looking, with excellent debate and oratory skills. Just like Tommy Carcetti, who woke up white in a city that wasn't, Barack Obama woke up black in a county that wasn't.

The Greats of Football Manager

The new version of Football Manager (formerly Championship Manager) is out today. This blog from the Guardian's website looks back on half a dozen of the legendary names from the game.

"...it's a fact that more thirtysomethings remember the name of Tonton Zola Moukoko than the name of the bloke who sat next to them at school."

"Champo Manager has, of course, been cited in more than 35 divorce cases." Says it all really.

Patton's Top 5

A great blog post here from Patton Oswalt where he reveals he has a book deal, that he found Sarah Palin 'achingly sexy' and where he lists his 'Top 5 Female Nazis'.

"...How I'd attempt to turn them from their evil ways. Think of me as Kevin Bacon in FOOTLOOSE, and they're my Teutonic Lori Singer."

Comedy Interviews

Here are a few comedy interviews. First of all Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald talk about Kids in the Hall playing a residency in Las Vegas and briefly mention their new 8 part TV series 'Death Comes to Town'. The link also includes a few Kids' sketches on YouTube.

In The Onion Jim Gaffigan talks about his 'Sexy Tour'.

It's funny, though, it's with Comedy Central, and there were these affiliates that do exchanges on ads, and supposedly in Tampa, one didn't want to do some promotion or something. They were like, [High-pitched voice.] "The Sexy Tour, that's dirty." And I'm a clean comic. It just proves that there's a lot of people who don't have any idea who the hell I am. I just thought it was funny, it's like, "The joke is that it isn't… it's not sexy." And they're like, "They don't get it."

A collection of writers from The Daily Show chat to an audience about their jobs.

Down the Wing

If you can't get enough of my patter here then you'll be delighted to know that there is another blog where you can read a lot more of it. Down the Wing is a football blog I've set up in order to document my attempts to attend 50 or more matches over the course of the 2008/09 season.

You'll read my reports on the games, which are geared far more to the patter of the fans and players than the nuts and bolts of football tactics. So far I'm up to 14 matches. This gives me a bit of an uphill battle to complete the 50 before the end of the season.

I have given myself very few rules to follow. I'm not trying to visit every league ground or anything like that. I'm taking in Junior, Amateur, Reserves and Ladies football matches as well as Scottish League games, European matches, friendlies and Internationals. Basically if there's a referee I can count it.

I've had a couple of offers of spare season tickets for the odd game and if anyone else wants to chuck that kind of action at me I'd be happy to take you up on it. If anyone has a suggestion for an obscure team to go and see I'd be happy to hear that too.

A Right Clown

Clown
Originally uploaded by jules3000

Fraser in Glue action.

Obama's Flickr

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Originally uploaded by Barack Obama

I only just discovered that President-elect Barack Obama has a Flickr account. There is over 50,000 photographs on it documenting his run to the presidency.

The most recent set shows him and his family watching the results on television before going out on stage to make his victory speech.

Are You Kidding Me?

While there are encouraging signs that America's government is about to get smarter, here in the UK there are a couple of news stories to suggest that ours is just getting dafter.

The first one made me laugh out loud, the second just made me angry.

1.) The report says "in general Britain is a happy nation" with 70% expecting more positive than negative experiences.

2.) "I believe there is a demand, now, for cards - and as I go round the country I regularly have people coming up to me and saying they don't want to wait that long."

"Well, You're One Up On Me"

Out of all the election coverage I watched last night and this morning, this was my favourite bit. Legendary political analyist Gore Vidal is as entertaining as ever as he crosses swords with the BBC's veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby, who appears slightly bemused by it.

Nae Offence Wee Sachs...

How wrong can you be? Just last week I said that in the wake of the Brand/Ross fiasco, BBC talent now knew they wouldn’t be backed in the event of a complaint. But lo! The bods have been all too quick to rush to the defence of Top Gear’s Jez Clarkson now he’s ruffled a few feathers with these, lets face it, much more genuinely offensive remarks.

The Beeb say of Clarko’s joke:

“The vast majority of Top Gear viewers have clear expectations of Jeremy Clarkson's long-established and frequently provocative on-screen persona.
"This particular reference was used to comically exaggerate and make ridiculous an unfair urban myth about the world of lorry driving, and was not intended to cause offence."

The thing is, if the question is “how many dead prostitutes does it take to make one Andrew Sachs?” the answer, according to the BBC, would appear to be “more than five”.

It is morally and logically indefensible to throw performers to the lions one week for making jokes about shagging a lassie and to then defend a guy who makes a joke referencing five young women murdered in cold blood barely a year ago. Am I saying Clarkson should be sacked? No, of course not, a joke is a joke, but where's the consistency?

When Cari Mitchell of the English Collective of Prostitutes (great name!), says that the offence caused by Clarkson’s joke was: "…more serious than the Ross and Brand debacle" because he was "making light of murder", you have to say she has a point.

As for the BBC’s defence; if Jeremy Clarkson genuinely doesn’t wish to offend, he might want to steer clear of jokes about brutally (and very recently) murdered woman.

Will this escalate into the next celebrity witch hunt? I doubt it, but who knows? After all, we’re yet to hear as a nation what Kelvin McKenzie thinks of it all…

Like the Guy in China

With the US Election about to kick off here's a couple of election related funnies. Victoria Jackson used to be a cast member on Saturday Night Live. She had a nice line in dumb blondes. The reason, it turns out, is because she is one herself. The video on this link shows her on Bill O'Reilly's show as the Fox newsman attempts to drum up support for McCain. Even O'Reilly, a Grade A head-the-ball himself, seems a bit puzzled at her remarks. In the same 100 second video O'Reilly comments that Obama "...Seems to be a capitialist in the sense that he earns money and he buys things."

From a couple of weeks ago here's Larry David counting down the days.

"Five times a day I'll still say to someone, "I don't know what I'm going to do if McCain wins." Of course, the reality is I'm probably not going to do anything. What can I do? I'm not going to kill myself. If I didn't kill myself when I became impotent for two months in 1979, I'm certainly not going to do it if McCain and Palin are elected, even if it's by nefarious means."


Get your Obama Os here.

Here are a couple of slideshows of the election from Flickr. First Vote and then US Election.

If you're from the west of Scotland you'll probably know that former Talking Heads mainman David Byrne is originally from Dumbarton, as such he can't vote, so he's encouraging his fans to get down there and vote themselves.

The Guardian look at the top 25 moments from the campaign.

More on the Brand/Ross Carry-on

One of the things to amuse me about the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross carry on is that no one can quite settle on a name for it. I've seen Ross/Brand Gate, Brand Gate, Sachs Gate and Manuel Gate. Perhaps it's time to stop trying to shoehorn 'gate' onto the end of each new scandal.

As the fallout continues there's been a couple of funny articles on the subject. In yesterday's Observer David Mitchell wrote this piece.

"Because it's been a particularly lovely week for those 30,000 and rising who've found the time in their undoubtedly busy schedules to thank the BBC for taking the trouble to offend them. Obviously, 29,998 of them missed the broadcast, but thanks to the miracle of YouTube and our dispassionate, fact-printing media, they've all had the opportunity to catch up and get their fix of what offends them.

They're an odd bunch, these people who actually enjoy being offended. Some would call them perverts but I, in common with much of the media, think that in our new inclusive society, their fetish should be indulged. In fact, live and let live, it should be celebrated. It's harmless, if incredibly weird, and they're an important and growing demographic. In fact, I'm thinking of pitching a TV show specifically targeted at them called Why Don't You All Go and Fuck Yourselves!? I imagine it'll be a hit."

Then in today's Guardian there comes this insightful and amusing article from Charlie Brooker.

"Perhaps it's time to put a "Complain to Ofcom" button right there on the remote control: if enough viewers press it, the show gets yanked immediately, like a bad variety act being pulled off stage by a shepherd's crook."

Louis CK and Denis Leary

I'm a fan of Denis Leary's comedy and recently I've become quite a big fan of his show Rescue Me. Here however is yet another accusation of him stealing material from other comedians. Louis CK (who in the past has spoken out about his material being nicked by Dane Cook) tells the story in quite an anecdotal style and you get the feeling he's not all that bothered by it.

Insane Reaction to Brand/Ross Gaffe

Every now and again, you get a glimpse of the real face of this country; the sad, mean, grotesque contortion of jealously, small mindedness and misdirected rage that lurks beneath the mask of spray-on decency and media prescribed civility.

This face was brazenly exposed in the series of events that have led to fans of an excellent entertainer being deprived of their radio show in an insane, media fueled escalation of an incident which as far as I can grasp involved a joke which suggested that a 23 year old Burlesque dancer may have had sex with someone.

Russell Brand has now quit the BBC and I would not be surprised if Johnathan Ross follows him out the door. I hope he doesn't, because he too in his context is an excellent entertainer and has been for years but really, why should he bother with us after this?

The BBC have behaved disgracefully during this entire idiot episode. Having paid Brand and Ross to be Brand and Ross, they have subsequently suspended them for being Brand and Ross, simply because a few morons whipped up into a fervor by professional bear baiters like the utterly vile Kelvin McKenzie have decided they are disgusted by something they have read about and not even heard.

Reacting to a situation they themselves have had a hand in developing, the BBC have looked like a lumbering, punch drunk fool, flailing aimlessly at anything that stays still long enough to look like a target. And the responsibility for the most important issue to emerge from this incident lies squarely with the BBC. In their reactive mishandling of this situation the BBC have allowed the talent at their disposal to be diminished and their output to be reduced in quality.

Worse, the BBC itself has been diminished by this, because it has backed down to bullying moralists and the gutter press without even the first hint of a fight. Their clear failure to get in front of what has happened means that the talent who remain in the BBC's employ know now that the BBC will fail to support them should they be unlucky enough to be the next "uppity celeb" targeted in some red-top engineered moral outrage publicity stunt.

The BBC's senior staff have allowed the corporation to be bullied and manipulated and a popular performer has been hounded from his job. Has anyone even mentioned where this leaves license payers who are fans of Russell Brand's show? Who is speaking for them in all this? The BBC would do well to remember that loudmouth moaners pay no more for their license than the next person - their obligation is to us all, not simply to those who, like spoiled children, shout the loudest.

In an atmosphere where hysterical reactions like this are allowed to pass unbalanced and, for the most part, unchallenged, the UK will end up with the utterly bland, worthless BBC the right-wing professional "decency" camp have dared only to fantasise about until now.

In short, we'll end up with the BBC we appear currently to totally deserve.

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Very interesting to see Georgina Baillie's dewy-eyed chops plastered all over the red tops today wasn't it? Also very interesting to note that Max Clifford is her publicist. What's the betting that once her round of "justice has been done" stories dies out a few weeks later we'll see her again but this time in her work clothes alongside headlines like "Pwarr! Look What All The Fuss Was About!". I'm all for folk making their way in life, but at the expense of another person's career? One wonders if this girl's FHM spread is already in the can.

Another ominous development I happened across today was some simpering lummox of an MP who sits on a broadcasting select committee speaking on BBC Radio Scotland speculating as to whether or not "...the BBC should really be involved in this kind of comedy" while apparently sticking with the erroneous assumption that every license fee payer in the UK wants Jonathan Ross to hang.

I find it unbelievable that, even in the mealy-mouthed cross examination this carpet-bagger received, no mention whatsoever has been made during this entire affair about the millions of license fee payers who tune in to hear Ross every week (on average 3 million per week). Of course in order for your opinion to be valid these days it has to be a moan or a gripe - simply being a member of one of the largest and most loyal radio audiences in the country is simply not good enough anymore.

And now this. How more utterly out of proportion will this get?

Brad and Fizz

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Originally uploaded by jules3000

Rare Elliott Smith Footage

Elliott Smith died 5 years ago on Tuesday. His friend Mary Lou Lord has posted a lot of previously unseen footage of him playing live in 1995. You can see it all here.

I Just Love Will Arnett

See more Will Arnett videos at Funny or Die

No Explainations

Originally uploaded by jules3000

That Sinking Feeling

On Sunday afternoon I went to see Righteous Kill. I had written a long post about how it’s an awful film, how director Jon Avnet should go get a job in a call-centre, how Pacino has fucking lost it (his ability to pick a decent script anyway) and how the filmmakers attempted to cheapen a great film like Heat by aping the climax. But I won’t post it. Instead I’ll focus on a much more positive cinematic experience on Sunday.

In the evening I went along to GFT’s Monorail Film Club screening of That Sinking Feeling. The 1980 film is the little seen forerunner to the much more popular Gregory’s Girl.

A comedy about unemployment and disillusionment in Glasgow it was much funnier than I remember it. There are a couple of scenes that displayed some misdirection worthy of The Simpsons at its best.

Sharp, witty and fun it shows Glasgow and its humour in a great light. It’s a film that they really don’t make anymore. Which is a great shame.

One of the film’s stars, Robert Buchanan, who was also in Gregory’s Girl, came along for a Q & A with Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch afterwards. There was a great moment, when asked if he still kept in touch with any of the rest of the cast, two of them shouted from the back of the cinema. Eight minutes of the discussion are below.

Wasted is Oot!

I was through at Forbidden Planet in Edinburgh last weekend for the launch of Wasted, a new comic where pal of 'pish Iain Laurie and I have found a home for our strip Blackcape.

We had a great day. It was nice to see people giving a toss about something we had been involved in and it was nice to see all the different folk who had contributed to the comic, including head honcho Alan Grant and big names like Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant, thrusting aside their gazillions of awards to hang out with us little guys. Many fun hours were spent in the pub but my favourite bit was sharing a fish tea with Jamie Grant, Frank Quitely, Alan Kerr and Iain in the City Cafe. It's the first time I've seen the house red ordered in a greasy spoon style chip shop.

The comic itself looks great and reads well for an anthology which tend usually to be editorially fuzzy and massively variable in terms of the quality of strips inside. Its not a loftily ambitious collection of course, its purely looking for laughs but I think it hits the mark more often than not.

It's available now for £3.25 and you should be able to get it from Forbidden Planet (certainly the Edinburgh store had loads and on checking, the Glasgow FP has copies as well) or direct from our distributor here. You can also get it here.

I notice that you can order it from Amazon as well now.

If you can't find it, gimme a shout and I'll get a copy to you. It may also be worth mentioning that if you subscribe (4 quarterly issues for £17.50 - print off the slip, fill it out and just sent it in - your money covers your comics and your P&P) you'll get an exclusive t-shirt by Simon Bisley, who's also been signed up for the cover for #3.

Here's a nice review we got from The List.

David Simon at the GFT

I had intended to blog this a couple of weeks ago, but I waited until the GFT had it online. Fraser and I went to see David Simon, creator of The Wire at the GFT a few weeks ago.

The sold out evening began with a screening of episode two of the fifth and final season. This caused a few murmurs of complaints from people in the crowd who a) Didn't expect an episode they hadn't seen and b) Didn't like the fact it was episode two and not episode one. It was a great episode though and has a brilliantly dramatic ending.

The talk itself was alternatively amazing and annoying. The Sunday Herald sponsored the event and their journalist Alan Taylor was the man in the chair to interview Simon. He gave off the air of a guy who had speed-watched a couple of seasons on DVD. He wasn't quite sure what character was who and wasted Mr. Simon's time and ours with inane chatter like asking if Avon Barksdale was named after 'Avon calling.' He also made jokey references to Taggart. All of this going straight over David Simon's head as he had no frame of reference.

The questions were the usual mix of quite good and timewasting clowns mistaking a public Q & A for a chance meeting at a party. When the man was allowed to talk he was very entertaining. An interesting and intelligent guy who gave us a lot of the background as to how the show came about, the writing process and of the real life people the characters on the show are based on.

Seven minutes of the talk are down below.

“There’s always something for him to fucking whine about.”

This is a great profile of Alec Baldwin in The New Yorker.

Paul Newman 1925-2008

This is the way I found out Paul Newman had died.

I'm at a party. We're playing a game where you pick out a name that's been written on a piece of paper, then you describe who the person is so your team-mates can guess their name.

Party Goer 1: Actor. Dead Actor.

Party Goer 2: Paul Newman!

Party Goer 1: Right!

Party Goer 3: Paul Newman's not dead.

Party Goer 4: He is. He died yesterday.

The Room: What? Aaaaaaaaw.

Paul Newman was always one of my favourite actors. In my room at my mum's I've had a framed picture of him at the Actors' Studio on the wall for the last 15 years.

He's been great in so many great pictures. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Hud, The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and his Oscar winning turn in The Color of Money.

Two of his later films stand up alongside the greats in my opinion. Nobody's Fool, which landed him another Oscar nomination in 1994 is Newman at his best. Twilight (directed like Nobody's Fool by Robert Benton) made four years later is a completely underrated picture that sees Newman play a private detctive dying from cancer opposite Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon.

Here's a tribute to him from The Independent, which coincidentially agrees with me over those last two films. The Stamford Advocate runs down his best work on film.

Down below is the first part of his appearance on Inside the Actors' Studio.

Keegan's Departure

Kevin Keegan's departure from Newcastle has got some of the fans in a right state.

Stanley Kubrick's Boxes

I missed this when it was on TV a few months ago, but I read about it in Jon Ronson's book 'Out of the Ordinary'.

Face to Face with Billy Connolly

More from YouTube. This in several parts an interview with Billy Connolly from 1994.

Brando Auditioning For Rebel Without A Cause

On Sunday The Observer printed 50 great entertainment clips to be found on YouTube. I thought I would post some of them here over the next week or so, along with some of my own faves. I might include some sport too.

The first one up is the 23-year-old Marlon Brando auditioning for Rebel Without A Cause.

Demetri Martin's Flipcharts

Magic Glue Photos

Below are some photographs from The Magic Glue's rehearsals and the show at The Stand in July. All of them were taken by Heidi Kuisma. Go hire her for all your photographic needs.

End of the Festival

With the Edinburgh Festival having come to a close I thought I'd briefly riound up the shows I've been to see in the last couple of weeks.

Angry Puppy was a solid all-female sketch show. The cast and sketches were all of a high quality.

Limmy's Show didn't have the atmosphere of his Oran Mor shows in March, but it was still top drawer stuff. Any show featuring me trying to climb a fence must be funny.

Scott Cappuro had a lot of 5 star reviews and according to each one a lot of walk outs. On the night I saw him no one walked out, but that's not to say he toned it down that night. The vast number of comedians who think that they're edgy really ought to go see Cappuro to see how it's really done. This was boundary-pushing stand-up at its best. He even managed to squeeze in some mild masturbation during the hour.

Easily the worst show I saw at the festival was Paul Foot's. Quite how this guy has a career is a mystery to me. He stretched about 6 minutes of material into an hour. When one of your audience says "You're actually humping me now," your show's taking a wrong turning somewhere.

The sketch show Two Episodes of MASH had some mixed reviews over the three weeks. I enjoyed it for the most part. There were some good, quirky ideas, like the super-hero who had given it all up to teach road safety (Road Safety - It's Not Just For Arseholes) and the human cannonball who had overshot, meaning he couldn't get his timesheets signed. There was a good running gag about their sponsorship deal with a scaffolding firm. The whole thing though was only 45 minutes long.

Wisecrackin' Mindsqueezin' Behemoth was another sketch show written and performed by JL Roberts and Nadia Kamil. They had done a show called Staggered Spaces that I saw a couple of years ago. They are both likable and engaging performers. The show was a bit shambolic but all the more fun for it.

Global Warming is Gay featured Glue's very own Dazza. Despite a few really awful lines it wasn't a bad show. However for my mind you may as well have written a show replacing global warming with collecting football programmes, such as I didn't really buy that these folk were spending £30,000 to combat global warming.

Edinburgh was rounded off this year for me with Doug Stanhope last night. Shambling through the crowd in the small bar he looked as ridiculous as I've ever seen him. A skip cap perched on his mulleted head, his jacket looked like something he'd stolen off a drunken sailor and his baggy shorts looked like he'd slept in them the last couple of nights. Oh aye that's right, he had.

He began by riffing with the crowd, by the time he'd had his third beer he was really on form. He did have to deal with idiotic attention seeking hecklers, but all in all he delivered a first class show.

Here's an interview with him about Edinburgh from last week's Metro.

So that's it for Edinburgh for me as a punter this year. Saw some decent shows and ate some good pies out of Piemaker. Spent too much money that's for sure.

Woody Allen Interviewed

Here's a hilarious interview with Woody Allen from 1971. He's taking the piss all the way. It's played completely deadpan, but the interviewer tittering at several points gives it away. It comes in four parts.

Interviewer: "I rather enjoyed it."
Woody Allen: "Yes, but you're mistaken."

More From Edinburgh

I saw a couple of shows from the Free Fringe/Festival in the middle of last week. Scott Agnew is there with his show Big Boy. He's on a bit of a tour with it, as it's playing in various venues throughout the run. I also went along to see Tartan Special in Meridan at the bottom of Leith Walk.

On Friday I saw Morgan Murphy at The GRV. Murphy is a well known and respected comic in the US, appearing on the Comedians of Comedy tour as well as late night chat shows. Here though she drew an audience of six. She turned in an excellent performance, but I couldn't help but feel it would have been more enjoyable with a bigger crowd in the room. I guess it says something about Edinburgh, she could be playing clubs in the US to decent crowds and earning cash, but instead she's in Scotland playing to a handful of folk each night. Well worth going to see though.

Later on I went to see Glenn Wool in the Underbelly. As I've said here before Wool is easily one of the best comics working in Britain. His delivery is just first class. His show deals with his divorce and it was interesting to see how much of it had changed since he performed part of it in Glasgow in March.

I should also maybe mention that John Gordillo, who struggled when I saw him on the first preview night, received a five star review from Chortle.

Down below there's some Morgan Murphy.

Pish Talk

As a companion to Talking Pish, I've set up Pish Talk on Tumblr. Here you'll find quick links and videos.

Limmy's Show

Here's a trailer for Limmy's Show at the Edinburgh Festival. Worth watching just to see me running. And here he is being interviewed by the BBC.

Edinburgh Festival 2008

It's Edinburgh Festival time again and I've been through the last couple of days to see some shows. They're still in previews at the moment so not fair really to give them the famous Tom ratings ;o).

The first show I saw was Ivan Brackenbury's Hospital Christmas Roadshow. This was pretty solid character comedy built round an incompetent hospital radio DJ. There was the odd cock-up, but that just made it funnier. The show revolves around the inappropriate songs Brackenbury plays for the afflicted patients in the hospital.

Next up was Pappy's Fun Club. A well regarded sketch troupe they were on at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar. It was gag packed, somewhat chaotic and an enjoyable hour.

Now it's fair to say that over at the Pleasance Dome John Gordillo didn't have his best night. John compered a night I was on at The Stand about two years ago and to my surprise he recognised me. This led to the first instance of a performer personally offering me a refund from the stage. It turned out that I was the only one of the small audience who had actually paid in. When his show hit its mark it was pretty funny, it was just a wee bit off being ready.

Richard Herring's new show The Headmaster's Son is up to his usual standards. Full of self-deprecating humour and plenty of off-colour jokes. There is a fair wee bit of heart in it as well.

The best show I've seen so far though is John Pinette - I Say Nay Nay. Fans of Seinfeld will know who John Pinette is as he played the fat guy who caused the gang to be arrested in the final episode. His first time at the Festival he hammered out an hour of solid polished stand-up. Mainly revolving round food and the various embarrassments his size and appetite has called him he was received warmly by the audience. It was obvious that he was enjoying himself onstage and appreciated the response. He also turned in an excellent Elvis impression.

I'll be back through next week to see more. Enjoy some John Pinette complaining about queues down below.

Tom's Fest '06

Some of you may remember my experiences at the Edinburgh Festival two years ago. If you don't I wrote an article about it for Chortle, so go have a read.

Canadians Films

Telefilm Canada have announced funding for 54 English language productions. Why do we care? Well, one of the projects is Trailer Park Boys: The Movie 2 and another is Death Comes to Town by The Kids in the Hall.

Magic Glue Recording

I don't think the Glue pilot recording could have gone any better. Several people said to both Fraser and I that it was the best they'd ever seen us. I don't think it was our best ever performance. For one thing we had scripts to refer to, but it may well have been the best night in the 3 year history of Glue.

We had a full house at The Stand, who lapped up our two top class warm up acts. Scott Agnew went through his usual tales of the rough and tumble of homosexual activity before launching into his infamous 'shite volley' story. Sandy Nelson's routine varied from the life of the metrosexual to deconstructing an intellectual book on how to think for yourself before closing on a song. I have to say though I think the thing he did that I enjoyed most was his soundcheck song.

The first 100 through the door got a free drink, with Robert ex-of the Mart and his pals getting the last 3, and Gordon of my most recent creative writing class being punter 101.

The audience couldn't have responded any better to our performance, finding the whole thing funny in pretty much all the places we wanted them to.

A great night all in all.

My photographs can be found here. Some of Heidi's photographs can be seen on her site.

Glue Photos

In a bid to prove that we have perfect faces for radio we had photographs taken last week. They were done by the talented Heidi Kuisma and you can see more of them and indeed more attractive photographs here

Everything We Know is Wrong

The trailer for The Watchmen movie. It does look good.

Magic Glue Press

This was from the Evening Times yesterday. We had professional photographs done on the Monday night, but too late for inclusion in Thursday's paper. The photo of Sandy illustrates the article fine though, don't you think?

Still places available in the audience for Wednesday's recording. We should have a good turn out, so if you want to come along for your free laughs just put your name and how many tickets you want in the comments section and your name will be down on the door on the night.

T in the Park

I was at T in the Park over the weekend, covering it for Artrocker. Here are my highlights.

First of all, just the simple fact that I got to access the Hospitality Tent and the Media Village made the weekend a more pleasurable experience. Whenever I got tired of the mass of bodies lying, bouncing, rolling around and the gigantic rubbish site the site turned into I could wander onto a quiet tidy lawn and indoor bar.

The media village was even quieter and the constant supply of free hot and cold drinks with a frequently replenished buffet and table and chairs to sit at made the whole thing much more comfortable. Of course I also got to rub shoulders with the likes of Billy Sloan. That’s when you know you’ve made it eh? Still I was feet away from the lassie from The Zutons and I was amused to be in the media tent while all the photographers feverishly pored over their freshly taken photographs of Amy Winehouse.

I kind of like Kate Nash, but after a while the quirky, ‘watching the telly wiv me fella’ lyrics grate a wee bit, but I enjoyed a bit of her set, the opening Pumpkin Soup in particular. The first outstanding band of the weekend though were The Hold Steady. I’ve missed them every time they’ve been in Glasgow, and I’m sorry that I did because they were excellent here. The Pet Sounds Arena was were I saw most acts and it seemed to be much quieter than the King Tuts’s Tent and indeed much quieter than most of the bands deserved.

Band of Horses were next and they too rocked like the proverbial mother. The one act I headed up to Balado excited about seeing was Ben Folds. It has to be said that his set was slightly subdued due to the fact that he had limited time. He barely spoke to the audience, apologising for not having the time to do so. His set focused mainly on his two studio solo albums, Rockin’ the Subrubs and Songs For Silverman with a couple of new ones and BFF tunes Kate and a great version of Underground thrown in.

My only complaint about the organisation of the event was that on my way out I had to ask 7 stewards and a policewoman where the exit was. Four stewards were happy to admit they had no clue, one steward pointed me to another who gamely tried to help despite having no clue, the policewoman, it turned out, was right but vague. The Supervisor I asked after that was 100% wrong and the one steward who did know where the exit could be found was belligerent, initially thinking that telling me it wasn't where she was standing was all the information I needed.

On Sunday I went down the front of the main stage to see Shed Seven, but I have to say I found them somewhat lacklustre.

Perhaps the highlight of the festival was in the King Tut’s Tent. I think I’m one of the only people I know who thinks that That’s Not My Name is a great pop record. I’ve even been going into the cinema early to see that Radio 1 advert which features it. The tent was completely heaving for The Ting Tings. The only previous T in the Park I’ve been to was the first one and I think this show draws parallels with Oasis at that first one. In that both bands had just got that bit too big for the slot they’d been put into, which really made it an event.

They opened with Great DJ and it was truly fantastic. A group that recognised that their time had come. They romped through most of their debut album before the inevitable closer, a storming version of That’s Not My Name.

You can see both songs here at their BBC T in the Park page.

I'd been looking forward to seeing The National again and I thought it was a shame that the tent was so quiet for them. I ran off from there to catch Frightened Rabbit in the T-Break tent. The last time I was so excited about a Scottish band it was Teenage Fanclub. They rose to the occasion well. The tent was bouncing and singing along and the band really went for it.

In the Relentless tent I saw Canadian electro-rock dance instrumental outfit Holy Fuck and they were one of the best things all weekend. Perhaps my favourite thing of the weekend was watching them close with Lovely Allen.

Primal Scream closed the King Tut's Tent and REM on the Main Stage. I saw a bit of both of them before going back to the T-Break tent to see Zoey Van Goey. Despite being up against several big name acts and the lure of home for lots of people they still managed to pull a respectable crowd.

Although the media now is focused on the one stabbing incident I have to say I didn’t see one single bit of bother, despite the fact there were clearly a good number of bams in attendance. Unfortunately it’s what a lot of people who weren’t there will focus on. I’ve heard folk moaning about it twice by Monday afternoon. Once in the barber’s, then again in a bakery, although that wasn’t about the stabbing but the fact that it was on TV. I also noted that pretty much every tabloid found a way to lead with the stabbing illustrated by a picture of Amy Winehouse. One of them said the incident took place 'just hours before Amy Winehouse took the stage'. Aye, 17 hours.

I have of course got sets on my Flickr page click here for Day One and click here for Day Two.

The BBC's site has lots of video and audio, although not of any of the acts in the Pet Sounds Arena.

Tom's T in the Park Top Ten

1. Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen
2. The Ting Tings - Great DJ
3. Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm
4. Ben Folds - Underground
5. The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
6. Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper
7. Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost?
8. The Hold Steady - Sequestered in Memphis
9. The National - Start a War
10.Kate Nash - Pumpkin Soup

Primal Scream

On Monday night I went to see Primal Scream in their 'secret' gig at the ABC2. Although I was told they'd be onstage at around 7.30 it was about 9.45 before they finally appeared.

It's fair to say it was a pretty feverent crowd. The band played a few songs from the forthcoming album but also managed some of their old favourites. I was particularly pleased they played 'I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have' as I've always preferred that to big hit single it spawned, 'Loaded'.

A cracking show, they played a proper 90 minute set and looked like they were enjoying themselves.

My set of photographs are on my Flickr site.

There are also some photographs on the BBC website.

The Kids Read

Here's a video of the Kids in the Hall doing a script reading at the Steve Allen Theater in May. It runs just over 8 minutes.

Secret Stand-Up - Kids in the Hall