Comedy news: Such Small Portions's news

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The Jongleurs chain of comedy clubs, which have launched the careers of some of Britian's best loved comic's, are set to be rebranded from next January following the collapse of the club's parent company.

Regent Inns, the pub operator which owns Jongleurs as well as Old Orleans and Walkabout, went into administration on October 20th with the closure of several Jongleurs clubs in Southampton, Nottingham, Bristol and Bow in London.

The ten remaining clubs are set to continue trading under their current names until January 2nd 2010, when the Jongleurs brand will revert back to its founder Maria Kempskina.

Founded Kempskina in Battersea in 1983, Jongleurs has been one of the UK's most successful comedy clubs helping to launch the careers of amongst others Eddie Izzard, Jack Dee and Graham Norton.

Kempskina has said she intends to use the Jongleurs brand to launch a new venture which 'will be more adventurous, more creative and more spontaneous' than the original operations.

Maria Kempskina sold her controlling 51 per cent share of Jongleurs to Regent Inns in 2000 for £8.5million.

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His films may have started to resemble the action of a child addicted to a Chupa Chup but it seems that when it comes to award ceremonies Ricky Gervais is still one of the top stars of the red carpet.

The British Comedian has been chosen to host America's 67th annual Golden Globe Awards - Hollywood's second biggest night of the year behind the Oscars.

Organisers approached The Office and Extra's star after the success of his brief cameo on last year's awards.

At the 2009 Golden Globe awards earlier this year Gervais claimed to have inspired Kate Winslet into her Oscar winning performance as Best Supporting Actress for The Reader - where the Titanic star played the role of a guard in a Second World War concentration camp.

Winslet, who had previously featured on Gervais' BBC sitcom Extras where she played the role of an actress who would do anything to win an Oscar, including playing a nun in a holocaust movie, was told by Gervais on the night: "I told you, do a holocaust movie and the awards come, didn't I?"

Philip Berk, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, said: "We are delighted to have Ricky Gervais as the host on our show. He'll bring his unique brand of humour and charm to what will continue to be a fast-paced award show."

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h! A new cabaret night is launching this weekend in the heart of the City of London - but don't shout about it. Cabaret and theatre company Finger in the Pie have teamed up with Proud Cabaret as well as interactive theatre impresario's The London Leisure Pirates and Tax Deductible to launch The Hush Hush Club, a new weekly cabaret showcase featuring some of the finest up-and-coming cabaret acts this side of the Weimar Republic.

Although details of the first few wee's line-up's are still to be announced, acts already confirmed include Edinburgh Fringe favourites Frisky and Mannish, lounge king Frank Senazi and acid tongued drag queen Myra Dubois.

DJs and emerging Musicians will be on hand to provide you with a fiery swathe of intoxicating beats, blending the golden age of prohibition swing with burning electro fresh from the oven.

More details can be found on www.fingerinthepie.com

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Russell Brand is set to bring the curtain down on his Scandalous Tour with a one-night charity gig at the Albert Hall this November.

The night will be in aid of Focus12, the charity which helped Brand get over his addiction problems. Brand has been a patron of the charity since 2005.

Fans who want to attend and get a chance to meet the controversial comedian for themselves are able to get premium box tickets through a specially organised auction on ticket webiste viagogo.co.uk - with all proceeds going to Focus12.

For more information on the ticket auction visit www.viagogo.co.uk.

To find out more about focus12 visit the website at www.focus12.co.uk

The final date that fans can catch Brand is at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on November 11th.

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Fans of Jimmy Carr has come out in support after the comedian was branded 'sick' for telling a joke about amputee's in the army.

The comedian, who was finishing up his set at the Manchester Apollo on Friday night, caused outrage after he told the audience: "Say what you like about amputees from Iraq and Afghanistan but we're going to have a fucking good Paralympics team in 2012."

The ne commander calling for Carr to 'quit' comedy while Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, who is chairman of the commons sub committee on terrorism has also criticised the comedian saying that certain subjects should be 'off limits' for stand-up comedians.

Mr Mercer said: "It's not funny and this man's career should end right now.

"I understand the desire to shock but there are certain subjects you just can't make fun of."

However fans of the comedian have come out in support of the quip stating that it is in the same 'black' tone that many squaddies would understand.  Lance Corporal Roy Mackenzie told The Sun Newspaper that he 'laughed out loud' at the gag.

"That brand of black humour is exactly the same as a squaddie's," Mackenzie said.

"Anyway, it's true we've got amputees in the forces breaking athletic world records.

"We're proud to represent Britain - whether it be on the battlefield or in the Paralympics."

Carr, who has since taken the joke out of his routine said: "I offend some people, I offend everyone, I like to cover all bases. Servicemen are having a difficult time so I'm going to leave well alone if that's ok."

Read more

Fans support comedian Carr over troop jibe  - Sky News

Jimmy Carr's amputee joke angers Army commander - The Mirror

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BBC chiefs have rapped Mock the Week star Frankie Boyle for his joke about Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington.

The BBC Trust has upheld complaints from viewers after the outspoken comic commented on Adlington's appearance and sexual prowess on air during the comedy panel show.

"The thing that nobody really said about Rebecca Adlington is that she looks pretty weird," Boyle said. "She looks like someone who’s looking at themselves in the back of a spoon.

"And then, when she arrived back on the flight she met her boyfriend. Did you see her boyfriend? He was really attractive. He was like a male model. So from that I have deduced that Rebecca Adlington is very dirty – I mean if you just take into account how long she can hold her breath…"

The programme recieved a record 75 complaints after the show was broadcast, with one particularly outraged viewer taking the complaint to the BBC Trust.

The quip was also picked up by the Daily Mail who lambasted the Scottish comic as an example of 'how far the BBC has fallen'.

In Boyle's defence, Mock The Week's producer said: "The jokes were not outrageously offensive and were wholly consistent with Frankie’s hugely popular comedy persona in the show as both a perpetually negative voice and someone whose “seedy lifestyle” is reflected in his inability to view celebrities by any yardstick other than their physical attractiveness."

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Comedy Maestro Simon Amstell is set to play Sloane Square's Royal Court Theatre this November for a one off gig in aid of the Royal Court's Young Writers Programme.

The gig, which is set for Sunday November 22nd, will feature support from Edinburgh Comedy award winner Tim Key.

Amstell said: "Hello. Like everyone else, Simon Amstell will die. However before that, he will be performing Stand-up comedy at the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square. Please do not attend if the date clashes with something in your own life. Thank you. Goodbye."

The Royal Court has been working with young people since the 1960s and  founded the first Young Writers Festival in Britain in 1973.

In 1976 the youth theatre known as the Young Activists (for young people aged 10-25) was created and ten years later in 1986 was changed to the Royal Court Young Peoples Theatre.

The Young Writers Programme has been responsible for launching the careers of some of Britain's most successful writers including Chloe Moss, Nick Grosso, Michael Wynne and Leo Butler.

Tickets for the event, which have gone on sale for £20, can be found on www.royalcourttheatre.com

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Jon Richardson, Russell Kane and Jack Whitehall will all feature in a new Comedy Central documentary.

The 14-part series, Grumpy Young Men, will see the comics voicing their pet-hates about living in modern Britain. A successful pilot of the show was aired in April.

Grumpy Old Men, on which it is based, has been a long-running hit on BBC Two and has already spawned the spin-off Grumpy Old Women. 

The show will air later this autumn. 

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Everyone's favourite Canadian comic Glenn Wool is leaving Britain for the States, but fear not, he's playing a 'farewell to the UK' gig before he goes.

In ten days time - Sunday 18th October - Wool will give British audiences two final chances to see his Edinburgh hit show Let Your Hands Go, which had critics lauding his unique mix of political and absurdist humour. 

The event is to be filmed, with a DVD going on general sale soon after.

Tickets are priced at £5 and available from the Albany's website. Definitely not one to be missed.

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Peter Kay's TV talent show satire has been nominated for an International Emmy.

Peter Kay's Britain's Got The Pop Factor... And Possibly A New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice is in the running for a best comedy gong.

The Channel 4 show is up against programmes from Germany, Japan and Brazil.

The winner will be announced at the International Emmy ceremony in New York on 23 November.