★ Ian Hislop celebrates 25 years at the helm

★ 50th book launch to mark historic milestone

★ V&A exhibition to celebrate landmark anniversary

LONDON, 8th September 2011: Private Eye is Britain’s first, most successful and indeed only fortnightly satirical magazine. Founded in 1961, it has somehow managed to survive for half a century during which it has consistently entertained, informed and irritated its readers.

Over five turbulent decades it has developed its unique mix of jokes and journalism, comedy and campaigning, gags and gossip, laughter and libel, to cover the public life of the nation.

From political plots to royal revelations, from City scandal to media manipulation, from legal lunacy to municipal madness. (That’s enough alliteration – Ed)

This year, Britain’s number one best-selling news and current affairs magazine marks its 50^th anniversary on 25^th October with a series of exciting events throughout the Autumn.

Ian Hislop comments: “I do not want anyone to think that this is all just a huge celebration of ourselves. Our 50^th year is a chance to look back and take a dispassionate view of how marvellous we are.”

Released on Tuesday 20^th September to kick off the anniversary year celebrations, Private Eye: The First 50 Years, an A-Z, is a lavishly illustrated, definitive history of the magazine, charting its rise from 300 copies of the first edition on 25^th October 1961, to a fortnightly readership of 700,000, steered at the helm by Editor of 25 years, Ian Hislop.

Written by Private Eye journalist Adam Macqueen, who has been with the magazine since 1997, Private Eye: The First 50 Years, an A-Z, is an unsurpassed, fascinating history of Private Eye over the past 50 years.

Forming an in-depth, witty and occasionally critical appraisal, Macqueen has created the long-awaited volume containing everything you ever wanted to know about the  nation’s favourite satirical organ. At last the origin of Ugandan discussions will be disclosed, along with the story behind that Andrew Neil photo, and the identity of Britain’s Biggest Pseud. Plus the inside story of the magazine’s many high-profile legal battles, scoops and staff bust-ups, told by those who were there.

In addition to a wealth of new material, the book features exclusive interviews with current editor, Ian Hislop, his predecessor Richard Ingrams and co-founder, Christopher Booker, plus a host of other key figures past and present.

The book also contains exclusive reminiscences and revelations about former contributors including Peter Cook, Auberon Waugh and Willie Rushton, in addition to rare archive material, unseen photographs and an abundance of cartoons from the likes of Nick Newman, Tony Husband and Michael Heath – many never before published.

Adam Macqueen comments: “I’ve been digging up stories for the Eye for fourteen years, but a lot of the stuff I found out about the mag surprised even me. When I discovered it surprised the editor too, I figured I must be doing something right.”

 With the phone hacking scandal, the superinjunction fiascos and the European financial meltdown it has been a quiet year for news. Luckily Private Eye was there to fill the gap.

Available from Wednesday 12^th October, the 2011 Private Eye Annual presents the very best of Private Eye’s unique blend of wit and humour,  jam-packed with pages of parody, the funniest spoofs, gags, cartoons, photo bubbles and topical humour.

Consistently found in the best seller chart and selling in excess of 78,000 copies last year alone, it is a must for every Christmas stocking.

Opening on Tuesday 18^th October and running for three months until 8^th January 2012, Private Eye at the V&A is on display in the V&A’s Studio Gallery in South Kensington, London.

Private Eye at the V&A is a free exhibition and will explore the wealth of artistic talent that the magazine has fostered by showcasing the original artwork for some of the finest and funniest Private Eye cartoons. Over its 50-year history, the Eye has published and promoted the work of more than 90 artists, many of whom started their careers at the magazine, including Gerald Scarfe, Ralph Steadman, Willie Rushton, Barry Fantoni, Nick Newman, Michael Heath, John Kent and Ed McLachlan. The illustrations will be shown in thematic sections on politics, royalty and social observation. They are richly varied in style and tone and take the form of single cartoons with captions, long-running strips and caricatures.

Ian Hislop has chosen 50 of the best trademark front covers, one from every year the magazine has been published. The front covers will be arranged in a timeline, offering a graphic satirical history of the news over five decades.

The exhibition will evoke the atmosphere of the magazine’s Soho office, with a recreation of the editor’s paper-strewn desk. There will also be seldom-seen ephemera from the magazine’s past campaigns and court cases, as well as a life-sized cutout of Tony Blair, a stuffed dog, a flying Robert Maxwell and a giant inflatable banana.

Notes to Editors:

Private Eye is the UK’s number one, best-selling news and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.

Richard Ingrams served as editor from the 10^th issue until 1986, and was then succeeded by Ian Hislop in 1986. It offers a unique blend of humour, social and political observations and investigative journalism. Published fortnightly, the magazine is read by over 700,000 readers.

Ian Hislop has edited Private Eye since 1986, and was absolutely thrilled to be voted the 97^th most powerful person in the media by the Guardian this year.

Commentating on “a stellar year for the man who celebrates 25 years in the editor’s chair in October – half the life of the magazine” The Guardian continued “The Private Eye editor has challenged privacy injunctions, led the way on important stories – and has also managed to boost sales.

Hislop’s work has put privacy injunctions firmly in the spotlight. But less glamorous campaigns have also succeeded at the magazine, where sales of more than 200,000 a fortnight are the best for nearly 20 years.

Even in recent months, the In the Back column has led the way on care homes, Southern Cross and the failings of the Care Quality Commission, and Rotten Boroughs broke an important story on South Tyneside council’s legal battle with Twitter. The magazine revealed problems at Doctor Who – and who would want to be a sleazy hack with Street of Shame on the lookout?

Hislop’s personal appearances on behalf of the magazine, whether on Radio 4′s Today programme or before Commons committees, have been impressive, which is perhaps not surprising given his lengthy TV career.

He continues to be a driving force of BBC1′s Have I Got News for You. And successes such as Ian Hislop’s Age of the Do-Gooders this year have also seen him identified as one of BBC2′s representative faces by controller Janice Hadlow.”

Ian has made countless television and radio appearances, as panellist, essayist and presenter. Credits range from Newsnight Review, Question Time and University Challenge (‘The Professionals’), to Radio 4 series on the history of tax, the Victorians and church architecture.

As a writer, Ian progressed from Spitting Image to write sketches for Harry Enfield and television plays for Maureen Lipman and Dawn French. Most recently he co-wrote the family sitcom, My Dad’s the Prime Minister.

Ian Hislop was honoured to receive the British Society of Magazine Editor’s highest award, The Editor’s Editor.

Adam Macqueen

Adam Macqueen joined the Eye on work experience in 1997, and has been there ever since, apart from two years when he ran away to become deputy editor of the Big Issue. He writes mostly for the Street of Shame and Media News pages, as well as compiling the Number Crunching Column.

He has also freelanced for a great many other newspapers and magazines, and had a weekly slot as co-presenter on the Sandi Toksvig show on LBC as well as regularly appearing on Sky News.

His previous book, The King of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up The World, was a chosen title on both Simon Mayo’s book club on Five Live and A Good Read on Radio 4.

www.private-eye.co.uk or via twitter – @PrivateEyeNews

LONDON, Tuesday 12th July 2011: Stand-up comedy is one of the toughest jobs in showbiz and ITV1’s new seven-part reality series, Show Me The Funny, is on the hunt for the next stand-up superstar in comedy.

Beginning at 9pm on Monday 18th July and hosted by award-winning comedian Jason Manford, Show Me The Funny features 10 comedians with varying levels of experience as they battle it out to win the ultimate prize in British comedy; £100,000, a nationwide multi-date UK tour throughout September and their very own DVD at Christmas.

Over six grueling weeks, the funnymen – and women – will be sent to all corners of the country and tasked with various challenges, with the winners deciding the running order of that week’s gig. The series will culminate in a live final where the remaining comedians will play to the biggest audience of their careers at London’s world-famous Hammersmith Apollo, in front of a 3,000 strong audience and millions of voting viewers at home.

Each week, the comedians aim is to find inspiration for five minutes of material to be performed at a gig in an unusual venue and to potentially raucous crowds, before facing the scrutiny of the judges. From a hospital and an army base to a secondary school and rugby club, the group will be followed as they complete their tasks and deal with the pressures of writing and performing fresh material.

The climax of each show will see the comedians come face-to-face with the judges; the much-loved comedian Alan Davies and the much-feared comedy critic Kate Copstick. They will decide who has made the cut for the next gig and who will find themselves on their way home. Each week, Alan and Kate will be joined by a revolving roster of some of the best known names in UK comedy including Jo Brand, Johnny Vegas, Bob Mortimer, Ross Noble, Cannon & Ball and Jimmy Tarbuck, to assist in their decision.

The 10 comedians, who all love making people laugh, but have yet to find their big break, feature fresh-faced newcomers to seasoned professionals, including a serving police officer, a former undertaker and an ex-professional model. One of the comedians has never been paid for a gig, another recently quit their job to do stand-up full time, and one is using annual leave from their regular job to compete in the show, whilst others have been making a full-time living out of the profession for years.

Jason Manford said: “Stand-up comedy has never been bigger and there has never been a better time to make this show. I’m excited to be involved in the series – it’s very rare to have the ability to make pretty much anyone laugh, and I hope Show Me The Funny will find that comic.”

Alan Davies commented: “After years on the circuit, I know exactly what it’s like to deal with the pressures of making an audience laugh and this is an extremely tough challenge.”

Kate Copstick commented: “People are calling it The X Factor for comics. But I think it’s more like Masterchef for comics. Which I suppose makes Alan John Torode, and me the irritating shouty one.”

Executive Producer and CEO of Big Talk Productions, Kenton Allen, said: “Stand-up comedy is the toughest job in show-business and the only job in the world where you are judged every 10 seconds by a paying audience expecting big laughs. Show Me The Funny is the real deal. There is no safety net. Expect to laugh your socks off, cry your eyes out, and some parts are best watched through your fingers.”

Making people laugh isn’t as easy as it sounds, and Show Me The Funny will reveal to the audience at home the pressures, creativity and nerve involved in pulling off the ultimate stand-up routine.

This is the ultimate search for comedies next big thing. It’s survival of the funniest.

The Show Me The Funny website –www.itv.com/funny – will feature clips from each episode, web chats with the judges, plus all the information you need on the show and the 10 competing comedians. You can also follow the series and join in the conversation on Twitter – @showmethefunny or by using the #smtf hashtag – and Facebook –
www.facebook/showmethefunny.

The Show Me The Funny Tour will be promoted by leading Comedy Promoter of Live Comedy in the UK, Phil McIntyre Entertainments (Peter Kay, John Cleese, Ed Byrne, John Bishop, Bill Bailey). The DVD of the tour will be released by 2Entertain, the number one DVD distributor for British Comedy (Lee Evans, Stewart Lee, Tim Vine, Harry Hill).

Show Me The Funny is a Big Talk Productions show for ITV1. Kenton Allen is Executive Producer, Martyn Smith is Series Editor. Claire Zolkwer is the Commissioning Editor, Comedy & Entertainment for ITV.

Show Me The Funny will air on ITV1, and ITV1 HD.

MEET THE COMEDIANS

From left to right: Stuart Goldsmith, Patrick Monahan, Cole Parker, Prince Abdi, Ellie Taylor, Jason Manford, Tiffany Stevenson, Rudi Lickwood, Ignacio Lopez, Dan Mitchell, Alfie Moore

Alfie Moore
Age: 47

By day, Alfie is a serving Police Sergeant; by night, he is a stand-up comedian. Comedy was firstly a hobby, ignited by Alfie 3 years ago, after a night out at a local comedy gig with his wife. He was very inspired by the acts and desperate to get up on stage and give it a go. Alfie is now performing regularly and over the past two and a half years has done over 250 comedy gigs and 50 after-dinner speeches.

Alfie Says: “The general perception is that cops take themselves too seriously and are too stuck-up and secretive. But if they see a copper who can laugh at himself and his organisation, that could do a lot of good.”

Cole Parker
Age: 37

Cole started his stand-up career at the age of six after entering a talent contest in Norfolk. Despite coming second, Cole was undeterred and a love of stand-up was born. Something of a bad-boy, Cole has a reputation for being a smart, solid act who can handle any audience. Popular on the comedy circuit, he regular plays all the big clubs country wide and internationally.

Cole says:“I’ve had this terrific passion for stand-up since a very young age. In the past, I have been maligned as an alpha male, but you should not judge people by appearances.”

Dan Mitchell
Age: 34

Charity worked Dan is a former Undertaker who sites “boredom” as the reason for his move into stand-up five years ago. Dan has since performed over 500 gigs after starting in small pubs in the rural Welsh countryside. He has performed at a variety of places from the Green Man Festival where he was critically acclaimed, to being booed off stage in a strip joint.

Dan says: “What do I love about stand-up? When it’s going well, the buzz is unlike anything else. When it fails, of course, you blame the audience!”

Ellie Taylor
Age: 27

After seeing a friend perform a five minute set, ex-model Ellie decided she should give it a go. A keen drama student at school, Ellie went on to study at York University and has recently given up her job in corporate events to concentrate on comedy full time. She has never been paid for a gig.

Ellie says: “I know I can perform, but I have never gigged outside London! Please don’t say I’m brave – that’s just a polite way of saying stupid!”

Ignacio Lopez
Age: 24

After University, Spanish barman, Ignacio got a job as an usher in a cinema, to get him closer to short films; another of his big passions. His colleagues at the cinema pushed him into comedy at the end of 2009 and he hasn’t looked back, despite being only paid for two gigs so far.

Ignacio says: “My goal is to play to as many people as possible. It will really help me progress and I see this as a way of jumping a few steps ahead.”

Patrick Monahan
Age: 35

Patrick may well be the only stand-up in the world of Irish-Iranian decent, but brought up on Teeside. He sees his background as a real bonus and credits talking about it as his breakthrough. Patrick has headlined the prestigious Comedy Store and performed around the world from the west of Ireland to Dubai.

Pat says: “There are no other Irish-Iranian comedians with a northern upbringing on the circuit – I’m all three rolled into one!”

Prince Abdi
Age: 28

A Somalian-born, former primary school teacher who was once on Millwall FC’s books, Prince Abdi won the Your Comedy Star competition at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007. Despite only just going full time, he has been on the circuit for four years and recently came second in the Barbican New Act of the Year competition.

Prince says: “I love doing stand-up. I could be a role model;I’m from a deprived area of London where opportunities are limited.”

Rudi Lickwood
Age: 47

Rudi has been on the circuit for the best part of two decades after first coming onto the comedy scene as an Eddie Murphy look-a-like in 1989 aged 26. Through this, he travelled all over the world, and when Beverley Hills Cop was released he was sent to Scandinavia, where he basically lived a celebrity lifestyle.

Rudi says: “Not everyone will like everything I do. I know I’m challenging the status quo in comedy. I’m not saying step over the line – I take my responsibilities very seriously, but my comedy is there to make you think.”

Stuart Goldsmith
Age: 33

When he was younger, Stuart ran away to join the circus, but upon discovering that the circus entailed more press-ups than he deemed reasonable, he fled! He moved on to street performance and acting, before settling on stand-up. He has gone on to perform all over the UK and Europe and he has supported sell-out comedians Mark Watson and Paul Sinha on their national tours.

Stuart says: “I’m used to having to claw an audience out of thin air! You walk onto a deserted street with just a suitcase and your wits, and you have to make things happen or you can’t pay the rent!”

Tiffany Stevenson
Age: 33

Tiff’s route to stand up has been quite diverse, but since taking the mic in 2006, where she initially performed as her WAG character ‘Savannah Dior’ she has been ahead of the curve. Tiffany also runs and co-hosts “Old Rope”, a weekly new material night with the award winning Phil Nichol at The Phoenix in London.

Tiffany says: “All comedians love trying out new material. There is nothing more satisfying than performing something and getting an instant response. I hope I can rise to the challenge.”

THE JUDGES

Jason Manford – Host

Jason Manford is a writer, comedian, actor, radio and television presenter. He was tipped to be a comedian from a very young age, but despite being a joker in his youth, Jason only got into comedy by chance. After leaving school at the age of 17, he began collecting glasses at the Buzz Comedy Club in Chorlton-cum-Hardy. One night a comedian didn’t turn up, so Jason filled in. Six gigs later, he was crowned The City Life North West Comedian of the Year.

His first major television appearance was as a guest on the Channel 4 panel show, 8 out of 10 cats, hosted by Jimmy Carr. He later went on to replace Dave Spikey as Team Captain in 2007 and continued for five series.

Jason has presented several TV shows including; Tonightly the topical comedy entertainment show for Channel 4 (2008) and the comedy entertainment show Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford for ITV1 (2010). He has just finished filming the second series of the ITV1 comedy game show Odd One In which is on air now. He is also currently on tour, which is running until November 2011, by which time he will have entertained over 300,000 people live with this show, sharing hilarious tales of shower mishaps, visiting “dangerous” animals and nappies. His first book – a hilarious yet warm memoir of growing up funny in a big working class Manchester family and his second DVD – Jason Manford Live; are both released in the autumn.

Jason cites Billy Connolly as the first comedian he saw when he was 9 years old, and as the very first inspiration for him to become a comedian. Peter Kay helped him at the beginning of his career offering Jason advice and sharing contacts.

Alan Davies –  Judge

Alan Davies began performing stand-up comedy in 1988 just five months after leaving university, with a three month stint in Canada performing at various Fringe Festivals and Comedy Clubs. Upon his return, he secured a TV spot within six months. In 1991, he was named Time Out’s Best Young Comic. He appeared on Tonight with Jonathan Ross in 1992 and continued touring and performing in the UK and Canada, winning the Edinburgh Festival Critics Award for Comedy in 1994.

In 1998, a DVD of his most successful stand-up tour, Urban Trauma was released following a sell-out season at the Duchess Theatre. It was later shown on BBC One.

Alan’s best known acting role is as the title character in the BAFTA-winning BBC drama, Jonathan Creek. He is also a permanent panelist on multi-award winning BBC quiz show, QI. His most recent acting role was the title character Roland White in the BBC Comedy Whites.

Kate Copstick – Judge

Kate Copstick has judged on numerous comedy awards including the Perrier, Amused Moose, SYTYF and Malcolm Hardee Awards. The first person to give Michael McIntyre a five star review, Kate Copstick has seen more live comedy, and spotted more new talent, than any other comedy critic in the UK.

For years she has been the most controversial critic at the Edinburgh Festival, with a fearsome reputation on the circuit as being the toughest of the tough, who can either make or break a career. Love her or hate her, her opinions are often stark, honest and occasionally brutal.

Her one woman show – Hardly Camp at All played New York, and at the 2001 and 2002 Edinburgh Festival she was described as “the future of Comedy”.

She appeared on On the Waterfront with Andrew O’Connor which gained cult status because of their parody “The Flashin Blade” created by Russell T Davies. She was a regular on Channel 4’s Biteback and After The News.

She has worked extensively with Jimmy Logan and has also shared stage, and/or screen time with, variously, Tom O’Connor, Bernard Manning, Nicholas Parsons, Fry and Laurie, Graham Norton, Richard O’Brien, The Chuckle Brothers, Basil Brush, John Inman and every major drag queen in London and Blackpool.

Kate Copstick has appeared on dozens of comedy panel shows and performed stand-up on many regional TV shows across the country.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Show Me The Funny Tour and DVD:

The winner will be voted for by the audience at home in a live final due to air in August. They will go on to headline their own stand up tour promoted by leading Comedy Promoter of Live Comedy in the UK, Phil McIntyre Entertainments, across the UK on the following dates*:

*Dates and venue subject to change and further dates may be added

The DVD of the tour will be released by 2Entertain, the number one DVD distributor for British Comedy.

About Big Talk Productions:

Big Talk is one of the UK’s leading film and television production companies. Launched by Nira Park in 1995, it has an impeccable track record in developing talent such as Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright whose cult television series Spaced paved the way for Big Talk’s first hit films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

In 2007 Matthew Justice (Hallam Foe, Blade) joined as Managing Director to help develop the company and in 2008 former BBC Creative Head Of Comedy Kenton Allen (That Mitchell and Webb Look, The Royle Family and the Oscar-winning Six Shooter) joined as Chief Executive together with a simultaneous strategic investment from BBC Worldwide. Big Talk now has a dynamic slate of original television with all the major UK broadcasters and continues to attract exceptional talent. Simon Curtis (Cranford, Five Days), Robert Popper (Peep Show, Look Around You, Friday Night Dinner) and Luke Alkin (Former Head of Channel 4 Drama) are all part of the core creative team.

In 2010 two new six-part comedies were broadcast to record audiences and huge critical acclaim: the BAFTA-winning Rev. (BBC Two), starring Tom Hollander, and Him & Her (BBC Three) starring Russell Tovey.

This year Channel 4 broadcast Big Talk’s first co-production with Popper Pictures, Friday Night Dinner starring Tamsin Grieg, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird & Tom Rosenthal, and commissioned a second series following its ratings and critical success. Current productions include second series of Rev. and Him & Her, and new commissions The Pranker starring Ross Lee (with Running Bare Films for BBC Three) and Chickens (Channel 4) written by and starring Simon Bird, Joe Thomas and Jonny Sweet and directed by Steve Bendelack(The League of Gentlemen). Threesome (Comedy Central) is a brand new sitcom by Tom MacRae, starring Amy Huberman, Emun Elliot and Stephen Wight.

Big Talk is now also the home of entertainment formats Show Me The Funny (ITV) a nationwide death-by-comedy contest for stand-ups culminating in a live final, presented by Jason Manford, and King Of … (Channel 4) a comedy chat show hosted by Claudia Winkleman.

Big Talk Productions has also made its mark in America; NBC has commissioned a series based on their Channel 4 show Free Agents. Starring Hank Azaria, it will be broadcast in the US from September.

In film, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, starring Michael Cera and directed by Edgar Wright, has been hailed as a ‘modern masterpiece’.Paul, written by and starring Simon Pegg& Nick Frost and directed by Greg Mottola has been a huge hit worldwide. Attack the Block, written and directed by Joe Cornish, has been released in the UK to stellar reviews and will open in the US this summer.

LONDON, Friday 15th April 2011: Heckles, joke theft and stage fright – all in a day’s work for British stand-ups – according to a new report from comedy channel Dave.

Perrier Award-winning stand-up Daniel Kitson has been named by his contemporaries as the best British stand-up of all time in a wide ranging survey of UK-based comedians released today.

The study which provides a fascinating insight into the daily lives of stand-up comics also names Liverpool as the city with the toughest audiences and reveals that 31% of comedians admit to suffering intense stage fright before they go on stage.

The study which was specially commissioned by Dave – the home of witty banter – to mark their new series of ‘Dave’s One Night Stand’ which launches on the 14th April at 9pm, and is the first survey of British based stand-ups ever compiled. Led by renowned comedy critic Bruce Dessau, the research involved one-to-one interviews with over a hundred comedians including the likes of Bill Bailey, Jo Brand, Tim Vine, Dave Gorman, Rhod Gilbert, Mark Watson, Jason Byrne and Greg Davies.

The results provide a fascinating overview of the nation’s regional responses to humour.  Liverpool was named as the city with the toughest live audiences with 18% of the comedians admitting they have to work harder to get a scouse audience laughing.

The majority of stand-ups who voted for the Merseyside region chose it because audience members often think they are funnier than the acts they’ve paid to go and see. Nottingham was voted as the second hardest place to crack (5%), followed by Maidstone in Kent.

Conversely, the regional audiences that are the most receptive to British stand-up comedy were named as the Midlands with two in ten (21%) comedians voting for the region. The place where political jokes go down best was London and the South East with 39% of those polled stating that satirical humour goes down better with sardonic fans in the South East.

The study also suggests that while more and more young people are attending comedy gigs, they aren’t always laughing once they get there. A whopping 46% of the comedians surveyed noted that the 18 – 25 year old age group were the hardest to raise a chuckle from and tended to have a ‘too cool for school’ attitude. One comedian quipped that “young audiences are often too busy texting to listen”. In contrast, the ideal age range for a comedy audience was said to be 26-33 year olds.

When it came to revealing which regional audiences heckles the most, the North West came out top with 29% of the votes, followed by Scotland with 18% – and rather than just ignoring the comments, almost two thirds (65%) of comedians say they immediately react with a pithy put-down.

Tough audiences often mean that nerves can play a big part in a stand-up’s act and it would seem that stage fright amongst comedians is rife, with 31% of those polled admitting to suffering so severely that they are physically sick moments before going on stage.

When discussing the sensitive subject of alcohol use during a gig, contrary to popular belief over two thirds (70%) of comedians revealed that they never drink before going on stage worrying that alcohol may hinder rather than enhance their performances. Referring to the sensitive subject of joke stealing revealed that over half (55%) of stand-ups had been the victims of joke theft. However, rather than running to the nearest lawyer, a quarter (25%) of comedians admitted that there was little they could do about it and that imitation is sometimes the sincerest form of flattery.

The research study also reveals the stand-up’s favourite stand-up of all time. When asked to nominate the greatest UK comedy act, West Yorkshire-born Daniel Kitson was the clear favourite with almost a quarter of votes (24%), proving that he has a fiercely passionate following in the industry.

The 33 year old has defiantly carved out a niche for himself and resists offers to appear on TV, preferring to appear live at festivals and gigs. He narrowly beat Billy Connolly (20%) who was arguably the first UK comedian who really popularised the modern genre of honest, self-authored storytelling. Eddie Izzard came third with 13% of votes, ahead of old school stand-up Tommy Cooper with 7% of the votes. Interestingly, two comedians refused to vote for their greatest UK stand-up stating that “all-time hasn’t happened yet”!

Finally, when asked who they thought was the most offensive stand-up in the UK was today, 14% of comedians voted for Frankie Boyle, just ahead of Jerry Sadowitz with 12%.

Commenting on the survey, Dave’s channel head, Steve North said “Being a stand up has to be one of the hardest jobs in the world. And these guys do it for fun! It’s great to hear from the Dave One Night Stand Up Survey that audiences are making the comedians work for their laughs. The better they get, the better the entertainment.”

Dave’s One Night Stand features a host of stand up comedians returning to their home towns to perform a single comedy gig. Featuring Chris Addison, Dave Gorman, Jason Byrne, Mark Watson and Greg Davies, the series will premiere exclusively on Dave weekly from Thursday 14th April at 9pm.

Press Contact: Taylor Herring PR

Following a competitive pitch Private Eye have hired Taylor Herring PR to promote the brand, as it enters its 50^th year.

The notorious satirical magazine will mark five decades in publishing with a series of events and special book releases in the latter half of 2011.

Taylor Herring will be promoting ‘Private Eye – the First 50 Years’ a lavishly-illustrated A-Z book of the magazine, the 2011 Private Eye annual and building towards the release of the 1300th issue of the legendary magazine.

The anniversary celebrations will also include a major exhibition of artwork, artifacts and legal documents at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

Agency managing partner James Herring and account director Emma Wright will be working with editor Ian Hislop and his publishing team on a number of new brand extensions in digital media.

Ian Hislop said; “I do not want anyone to think this is all just a huge celebration of ourselves.  The 50^th year is a chance to look back and take a dispassionate view of how marvellous we are.”

Private Eye is the UK’s No.1 best-selling news and current affairs magazine. It offers a unique blend of humour, social and political observations and investigative journalism. Published fortnightly, the magazine has a readership in excess of  696,000  (NRS Dec 10).

Taylor Herring have expertise in publishing and comedy. The company has promoted and worked some the biggest comedy names and brands including The Inbetweeners, The Simpsons, Viz magazine, comedy channel Dave and The Comedy Store.

The agency has handled promotion of the Channel Four Book Club, since it first launched five years ago as well as delivering best-selling success for the likes of Piers Morgan and Robbie Williams.

The Inbetweeners follows the often misguided footsteps of four friends, Will, Simon, Neil and Jay, as they try to navigate their way through sixth form, with their hormones running riot.

Often described as ‘a British American Pie’, The Inbetweeners delves deep into the psyche of the British teenage boy to discover equal amounts of lust, sick and cheap lager. None of our heroes are exceptional, all are distinctly average. And trying to convince the world they are sophisticated, sexy human beings usually ends in wretched disaster.

Spawning phrases such as ‘clunge,’ ‘bus wankers,’ ‘spaff’ and ‘briefcase wanker’ The Inbetweeners has become iconic and manages to reflect the minefield that sixth form can be, for 17 year old boys.

Written and executive produced by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris for Bwark Productions, the show has already landed an impressive array of awards including; a BAFTA, British Comedy Awards, an RTS award for writing, a Broadcast Award, a TV Quick & TV Choice Award , an NME Award and a nomination for The National Television Awards. In addition, the show secured an average of 1.5 million viewers for Season 2 and currently has over 1.1 million friends on Facebook.

The series returns this September with more mishaps, embarrassing attempts to pull and the vital adult initiation – to lose their virginity and become men.

The start of term sees Carli organising a charity fashion show which Simon eagerly agrees to take part in, Will trying to escape being known as the kid who shat himself in the exam, and Jay is still up to his neck in imaginary sexual experiences. Over the six episodes, the quartet also tries their hand at camping, gigs and ‘puff’, obviously all with disastrous consequences.

And as the year goes on, one of the boys gets a proper, living breathing girlfriend – something the others find a little hard to take but very easy to ridicule.

Writer Iain Morris states, “We are hugely grateful for the support the show has had from the fans and are excited to have finished series three. Hopefully the fans will enjoy the boys’ adventures in their final year at school.”

The series is commissioned by Nerys Evans, co-executive produced by Caroline Leddy, produced by Christopher Young and directed by Ben Palmer.

Work continues on a feature length production of The Inbetweeners and a US version of the show is in the pipeline.

Independent production company Bwark Productions was founded in 2005 by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. Bwark’s credits include Free Agents (Channel 4), Angelo’s (Five), The Persuasionists (BBC Two) and several Jimmy Carr live stand up DVDs.

The Inbetweeners series three and the Complete Series 1-3 box sets are available on 25th October 2010.

The Inbetweeners Cast List

Will – Simon Bird
Jay – James Buckley
Neil – Blake Harrison
Simon – Joe Thomas
Tara – Hannah Tointon
Carli – Emily Head
Mr Gilbert – Greg Davies
Charlotte – Emily Atack
Mark Donovan – Henry Lloyd-Hughes

THE INBETWEENERS – Characters

WILL (Simon Bird) Will McKenzie is on a bad run. His parents have divorced and, to compound matters, his (totally hot) mum has moved him out of an independent school and into a local comprehensive. Will’s last school did a good job preparing him for the outside world – he’s smart, confident, quick-witted and outspoken. Unfortunately for Will this isn’t the outside world, this is the sixth form at Rudge Park Comprehensive where all these attributes make the kids, and teachers, deeply suspicious of him. Through dogged determination (and a bit of stalking) Will has now made friends with Simon, Jay and Neil, who if anything are a little more tragic than him. Unfortunately he’s also made enemies of the sixth form nutter (Mark Donovan) and his psychotic head of year, Mr Gilbert.

SIMON (Joe Thomas) Simon is Will’s closest friend at Rudge Park. Despite being coerced into looking after Will when he first arrived at school, Simon has warmed to him. He sees Will as more on his level than his other mates. Someone he can talk to about more than just “clunge”, football and Playstation, even though he does spend most of his time droning on about his love for Carli D’Amato. It’s an unrequited love, obviously, but who knows, if Simon wasn’t such a loser around Carli maybe something could happen. However that’s about as big an “if” as you’re ever likely to find.

JAY (James Buckley) Everyone had a mate like Jay Cartwright. The sort of friend that in later life you look back on and think “‘why did I hang around with him?”. A potty mouthed, verbal bully, Jay is constantly bragging about his sexual conquests and daring feats, although there seems to be a disturbing lack of evidence for his hyperbolic claims. He has a natural antipathy towards Will, mainly because Will has no hesitation in pulling Jay’s lies to pieces.

NEIL (Blake Harrison) Neil Sullivan is the boy for whom the phrase “in a world of his own” was invented. Not exactly the brains of the outfit, Neil is always twenty seconds behind everything and everyone. But just when you think he’s really stupid he says something that almost makes sense. Much to Neil’s annoyance, his unconventional dad – a single, middle-aged man struggling to raise a family after his wife walked out on them – is the butt of the other’s crude jokes, who relentlessly cast aspersions on his sexuality just because he “wears tight shorts” and “plays badminton on a Tuesday”.

CARLI D’AMATO (Emily Head) Carli is the gorgeous girl next door who Simon has had a crush on for as long as anyone can remember. Carli, like all girls her age, is more sophisticated than our hapless four, preferring guys just that bit older, at university, and with their own (not tiny and yellow) cars.

CHARLOTTE (Emily Atack) Charlotte was the gorgeous and sophisticated girl in the year above, now she’s the gorgeous and sophisticated girl at university, but she’s back for a visit and once again the object of Will’s school boy crush.

TARA (Hannah Tointon) In the year below, Tara has always quietly had Simon in her sights. Now she’s in the 6^th form, she’s spreading her wings and got a bit more confidence to make her move. Unfortunately for her, the fit boy from the year above is a bit of a tit and his mates who follow him everywhere aren’t any better.

MR GILBERT (Greg Davies) Mr Gilbert is the psychotic head of sixth form at Rudge Park. He’s one of those teachers who’s just a bit fed up with what for him has been a fairly thankless career. To say he doesn’t suffer fools would be an understatement; he doesn’t suffer anyone, and he gives Will a particularly tough ride for no other reason than he can.

MARK DONOVAN (Henry Lloyd-Hughes)
Donovan is the resident school psycho. He bullies his way through the new and the weak kids and is the on-off boyfriend of the most popular girl at school, Charlotte Hinchcliffe. Charlotte is inconceivably attracted to Will, a bittersweet triumph that puts our hero immediately on a collision course with Donovan.

Cast biogs:

Simon Bird (Will) Simon was named Best Male Comedy Actor at the 2009 British Comedy Awards, having won Best Male Newcomer in 2008. He was also nominated for Best Male Comedy Actor at the 2009 BAFTA Awards and Best Comedy Performance at the 2008 Royal Television Society Awards. He has been a regular performer on the live comedy scene, both as a stand-up and as part of sketch group The House of Windsor (with Joe Thomas and Jonny Sweet). Most recently Simon has written and starred in a new series for BBC3 called The King is Dead, due for TX in September 2010.

Joe Thomas (Simon) As a writer, Joe has recently been named a 2010 Broadcast Magazine Hot Shot, alongside collaborators Jonny Sweet and Simon Bird. The trio are currently developing an original scripted comedy which they will star in, with Big Talk Productions ‘Spaced’ ‘Shaun of the Dead’ for Channel 4. Joe has also recently worked on Simon Bird’s upcoming comedy panel series ‘The Kings Dead’, which will air on BBC3 later this year. He is also set to start in another independent British film which shoots early 2011.Joe Thomas and Jonny Sweet have been writing and performing comedy together since they met at Cambridge University in 2003. They were nominated for the Writer’s Guild Best Comedy Newcomer Award for their first hour-long comedy show and went on to stage two more highly acclaimed shows at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival including one with Simon Bird called ‘House of Windsor’.

James Buckley (Jay) James was just 11 years old when he appeared in his first West End play ‘Whistle Down the Wind’ at the Aldwych theatre. Soon after this he was also cast in ‘Les Miserables’ at the Palace Theatre. His television credits include 2001’s ‘Orrible’ with Johnny Vaughan, ‘Skins’, BBC sitcom’ Fresh’, Channel 4 Comedy Lab, ‘Filth’ and BBC, ‘Only Fool and Horses’ Prequel, ‘Rock and Chips’ . James attended the Performing Arts College in Essex and enjoys writing music, playing guitar with his band and Dj’ing.

Blake Harrison (Neil) Blake trained at East 15 Acting School and went straight from there into the first series of The Inbetweeners. Other recent work includes the co-lead in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret in which he co-stars with David Cross and Sharon Horgan. It is a US/UK co-production and will air in the States this autumn and here on Channel Four shortly after. Blake has also had guest roles in Him and Her (BBC3) and White Van Man (BBC). He has also played a support lead in the feature Reuniting the Rubins.

Emily Head (Carli) As well as enjoying three seasons of’ The Inbetweeners’ Emily has had other notable television roles including the series regular ‘Grace in The Invisibles’ and significant guest leads in ‘MI high’, ‘Doc Martin’, ‘Doctors’ and ‘Trial and Retribution’. Last year she made her feature film debut shooting alongside Noel Fielding on the Independent film ‘I Spit on Your Rave’ and has just completed filming with the award winning French director Cedric Klapisch on the film ‘My Piece of Pie’.

Emily Atack (Charlotte) Emily is the daughter of Actress/Singer Kate Robbins, neice to Amy & Ted Robbins, cousin to Sir Paul McCartney so it is fair to say she is steeped in entertainment tradition.    Her first break in TV came when she appeared in a an episode of ‘Blue Murder’ for ITV in which she had a leading guest role, opposite Caroline Quentin.She is best known, however, for her work as Charlotte Hinchcliffe in the hugely successful comedy series, ‘The Inbetweeners’, which is on the brink of screening it’s third series.  She recently took part in ‘Dancing On Ice’ for ITV, and the 2010 national tour that followed. Her other work includes appearances in: ‘Heartbeat’, ‘Rock And Chips’ and a Victoria Wood Christmas Special.

Hannah Tointon (Tara) Hannah Tointon is best known for playing Katy Fox in the long running Channel 4 series ‘Hollyoaks’. In 2006, Hannah appeared in the television series ‘Murder City’, where she played Bethany Williams in the episode ‘Just Seventeen’. She also appeared in ‘Dream Team’ as Savannah Caskey and then went on to appear in ‘New Tricks’. She also starred in the movie ‘The Children’ – a horror which co-starred Jeremy Sheffield. It was released in November 2008. Her other movie credits include ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ and ‘The Glass House’.

The cast will include stars of the TV show – Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Emily Head.

The hit comedy, which has been described as the British American Pie, delves deep into the psyche of the British teenage boy to discover equal amounts of lust, sick and cheap lager. None of our heroes are exceptional, all are distinctly average. And trying to convince the world they are sophisticated, sexy human beings usually ends in wretched disaster.

The film’s plot revolves around the boys first holiday away together and crucially, without their parents. The four of them decide to go to Malia, a party town for mainly young British tourists on the Greek island of Crete. And if they felt slightly outside of mainstream teenage society in their suburban hometown then that feeling is magnified a thousand times in one of Europe’s hedonistic hotspots.

The film will be directed by Ben Palmer and written and exec produced by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. Chris Young is the producer for Young Bwark Films.

Notes To Editors

Written and executive produced by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris for Bwark Productions, the television show has already landed an impressive array of awards including; a BAFTA, British Comedy Awards, an RTS award for writing, a Broadcast Award, a TV Quick & TV Choice Award , an NME Award and a nomination for The National Television Awards.

In addition, the show secured an average of 1.5 million viewers for Season 2 and currently has over 1.1 million friends on Facebook.

The multi award-winning show returns to E4 and Channel 4 this September in its third, hotly anticipated series.

Press Contact Taylor Herring PR 0208 206 5151

In its quest to find the outstanding one-liners, and the most disastrous put-downs the judges sat through an average of 60 different comedy performances and sifted through more than 3,600 minutes of material. This meant they each had a potential pool of around 7,200 different jokes to choose from.

With nearly 40% of the overall votes, comedian Tim Vine, takes the top spot and walks away with the hand-crafted Dave trophy and a cash prize for his witty one-liner: ‘I’ve just been on a once in a lifetime holiday.  I’ll tell you what.  Never again’.

The winning joke, taken from Vine’s current sell-out show, ‘The Joke-Amotive’ at the Pleasance Courtyard, marks a triumphant return to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe for the stand-up and TV star. Vine has proved to be a firm favourite with both the panel of judges and the public with his witty one-liners and original show.

Steve North, Channel head of Dave says: “This year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe features some 34,265 performances of 2,098 shows in 265 venues with comedy making up 35% of the programme. With the Dave Joke of the Fringe we’ve boiled it down to the best 24 jokes on offer and let the public crown Tim Vine as the winner.”

Of his win, Vine said: “I am very happy to win this award and I’m going to celebrate by going to Sooty’s barbecue and having a sweepsteak”.

The Top 10 funniest jokes from the Fringe Festival

Tim Vine  – “I’ve just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I’ll tell you what, never again.”

David Gibson as Ray Green – “I’m currently dating a couple of anorexics. Two birds, one stone.”

Emo Philips – “I picked up a hitch hiker. You gotta when you hit them.”

Jack Whitehall – “I bought one of those anti-bullying wristbands when they first came out. I say “bought” – I actually stole it off a short, fat ginger kid.”

Gary Delaney – “As a kid I was made to walk the plank. We couldn’t afford a dog.”

John Bishop – “Being an England supporter is like being the over-optimistic parents of the fat kid on sports day.”

Bo Burnham – “What do you call a kid with no arms and an eyepatch? Names.”

Gary Delaney – “Dave drowned. So at the funeral we got him a wreath in the shape of a lifebelt. Well, it’s what he would have wanted.”

Robert White – “For Vanessa Feltz, life is like a box of chocolates: empty.”

Gareth Richards – “Wooden spoons are great. You can either use them to prepare food, or if you can’t be bothered with that, just write a number on one and walk into a pub…”

Some of the biggest groaners include:

Sara Pascoe – “Why did the chicken commit suicide? To get to the other side.”

Sean Hughes – “You know city-centre beat officers… Well are they police who rap?”

Gyles Brandreth – “I’ve got nothing against lesbians. I mean, that’s the point isn’t it?”

Doc Brown – “I was born into the music industry. My dad worked in Our Price.”

John Luke Roberts – “I made a Battenberg where the two colours ran alongside each other. I called it apartheid sponge.”

Sarah Millican – “I bought a cross-trainer to keep fit. I suppose that it’s not enough to just buy it.”

Bec Hill – “Some of my best friends are vegan. They were going to come today but they didn’t have the energy to climb up the stairs.”

Dan Antopolski – “How many Spaniards does it take to change a lightbulb? Juan.”

Andi Osho  – “Floella Benjamin is in the House of Lords. How did she get in, through the round window?”

Gareth Richards – “My mother is always taking photographs of me; she said if you disappear tomorrow I want you to look good on the news.”

Emo Phillips  – “I like to play chess with bald men in the park although it’s hard to find 32 of them.”

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is widely acknowledged to be the biggest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for three weeks in Scotland’s capital city. Starting in 1947, it was seen as a post-war initiative to re-unite Europe through culture, and was so successful that it inspired more performers than there was room for.

Satirical and edgy, Dave is an irreverent channel that showcases the best in contemporary entertainment and is the home of witty banter.  Beside the very best quizcoms and cult comedies – including the UK’s highest rating commission, Red Dwarf: Back to Earth (watched by 2.66m) – Dave also broadcasts UKTV’s sports offering with World Rally Championships and Red Bull X-Fighters. Dave is available on Freeview (channel 19), Sky (111) and Virgin (128).

Updated daily, it delivers a unique twist on everything from pop to politics. Please follow them on Twitter or Facebook too.

LONDON, Wednesday 2nd June 2010: Comedy giant Jongleurs today announced that it is investing a further £2m into its comedy and entertainment offering in 2010, with plans to launch nine new clubs nationwide later this year.

Jongleurs investment arrives at a time the UK is enjoying a comedy boom with arena tours selling out and stand up comedy DVD sales toppling Hollywood blockbusters at Christmas.

The new launch, a franchise agreement with Momo Leisure Ltd, will see new clubs open in Cambridge, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle to add to an already successful Nottingham launch in April.

The Nottingham site has re-established comedy back in the heart of the City to great customer reaction. Shows are already extremely busy with customers saying how delighted they are that the Jongleurs brand is back. The new look Jongleurs is quickly developing a reputation for great service, good food and of course a first class comedy experience.

Momo Leisure was founded in 2009 by David Elphick, Head of Training at Poppleston Allen and Jez King, a former Regent Inns Executive and Divisional MD at Laurel. The pair has put together a strong management team who are very experienced in the comedy market.

Further expansion plans are already underway with Novus Leisure Ltd, which opened the flagship joint venture at Sway in Covent Garden on 15th May 2010, with plans to open new clubs in Portsmouth, Croydon, Glasgow and Leeds.

Jongluers@Sway has been selling out a new premium comedy offering, Jongleurs Posh, a £40 ticket that includes a three course dinner, four stand up acts and table service, suggesting that comedy is one of the most recession-proof of all industries.

John Davy, Jongleurs co-owner, said “Jongleurs is synonymous with great comedy and a fantastic all round night out and this fresh investment will help bring our unique offering to even more customers and new audiences. The appetite for a complete comedy and entertainment experience is stronger than ever and we are experiencing unprecedented demand from corporate and larger group bookings in particular who are looking for an entertainment one-stop-shop.”

Maria Kempinska, Jongleurs founder and co-owner, said “For 27 years Jongleurs has been a driving force in British stand up comedy, innovating the comedy experience in terms of acts, environment and approach. It seems people want to laugh and be entertained in times of recession and Jongleurs is focussed on meeting that need.”

By the end of 2010 there will be eleven Jongleurs clubs around the UK in total, with plans to continue to roll out in 2011.

Press Contact: Taylor Herring PR 0208 206 5151