Comedy news: From Alexi Sayle to Dylan Moran, six things to see at Latitude Festival 2011

So it's all over for another year. But if you want to check out Such Small Portions festival coverage of the Latitude Festival you can do worse than click on the links below to all our weekend's live coverage from reporter Andrew Mickel

David Tennant dons gold trousers and a hairpiece for This Is Jinsy

Live Latitude Buzzcocks episode ends in Jupitus-led Karaoke

Jimmy Bird wins Latitude Festival new comedy act award

Latitude: Richard Herring kept awake ahead of show by 'gaylords'

Latitude new comedy act award runners and riders

It may have only feel a fleeting moment since the inaugural Latitude Festival set the summer festival scene alive with its focus on arts instead of music in the furry fields of Suffolk, but it seems that this particular festival is needing a bigger set of clothes with each passing year.

Now in its sixth year Latitude can walk, run and is certainly growing up faster than we expected. This year will not only see some excellent live shows but the first ever TV appearance of one of the UK’s biggest comedy panel shows to be recorded outside the studio.

So amongst the cabaret performers hanging from the trees and the late night jazz in the woods, SSP has picked out six things to watch out for at this years festival:

Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan take a trip to Suffolk

Though The Trip may not have reinvented the British comedy landscape in the same way that, say, The Office did a decade ago, what the show did provide was a brilliant tangent on not just comedy but celebrity life.

Mostly ad-libbed and unscripted the six-part series became unmissable watch. This year Brydon and Coogan are set to appear in the Film & Music arena to talk about the show in what has been dubbed an ‘informal chat’ so expect more impressions and cheek noises then.

What to watch out for : Will Coogan be asked – or talk about this recent appearance on Newsnight? 

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon set for Latitude Festival trip

Never Mind The Studio – Buzzcocks hit the comedy tent

The other big hitter at this year’s Latitude is the appearance of comedy panel show Never Mind The Buzzcocks producing an episode outside the studio for the first time. 

Latitude has a kind of love affair with anything Buzzcocks related – with Mark Lamarr introducing the band on the 30th anniversary of the release of Love Will Tear Us Apart, this year the most likely cause for consternation is the participants tearing strips out of each other all in the name of comedy.

Alexi Sayle on the Poetry stage

Anyone keen to peer back into the origins of a lot of modern comedy could do a lot worse than head towards the Poetry Arena on Sunday evening as one of the greats of the stand-up circuit is set to appear. 

Alexi Sayle has five novels to his name and though he will always be known for his appearances in The Young Ones, this year Latitudites get the chance to see him reflect on his early life

BAFTA presents The Misfits

Only a place like Britain can produce a TV series about superheroes who spend their whole time hanging out in a youth detention centre, manage to help pretty much no-one, and make a mockery of the whole idea of having powers which can change the world.

And that is precisely why The Misfits was such as hit. However since SSP last talked to the cast at the British Comedy Awards a lot has changed, Robert Sheenan has left the cast, and the third series should be completely wrapped up.

All that is left is to sit and find out what the cast can reveal about both being part of the show and what is set to hit our screens this autumn with their Q&A session in the Film & Music tent.

Dylan Moran

There are plenty of top notch comedians at this year’s Latitude but the one that stands out on our list is the acerbic talents of Dylan Moran.

Back with a new tour the Irish star of Black Books is set to lambast the audience on whatever his celebrium has been musing on since he last hit the stage. Always worth watching, even if the comedy tent is packed out.

Literature tent

As with every other year, the literary tent seems to bring out some of the best comedy performances – even though the comedy tent itself is only just up the hill.

This year Mark Steel is welcomed back to the stage along with up-and-coming comedian Eric Lampaert, Robin Ince is moving away from a 22-show marathon to present his mix of science and comedy and even the Edinburgh stalwart show Spank is making an appearance. 

If you happen to be strolling by, it will be well worth your while heading in to see what is going on.

Latitude Festival is held at Henham estate in Suffolk between 14th – 17th July. For more information visit the Latitude Festival website.