RUSSELL HOWARD, star of BBC TWO’S Mock The Week, will be the brand new host of Edinburgh & Beyond, which returns for its fourth series this July. Taking the reigns from multi-award winning comedian AL MURRAY - THE PUB LANDLORD, RUSSELL HOWARD will present six one-hour shows featuring some of the most exciting comedians at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The series, starting on Comedy Central from 25th July, is one of the few to bring live comedy from the brightest up and coming acts direct to viewers living rooms and will see RUSSELL HOWARD present top-flight stand-up from: RUSSELL KANE, who recently appeared on Live at the Apollo; Flight of the Conchords’ KRISTEN SCHAAL; Peep Show’s ISY SUTTIE; and BBC Switch’s TOM DEACON. In addition to: Big Brothers Big Mouth’s JACK WHITEHALL; writer and star of Cowards, TOM BASDEN; Fist of Fun’s RICHARD HERRING; and STEPHEN K AMOS. The series’ line up includes three if.comedy Award (formerly the Perrier) nominees and three if.comedy Best Newcomer Award nominees.
Each episode features four acts hand-picked from the world’s largest arts festival, and stars some of the most highly rated comics on the UK circuit as well as rising stars of TV and radio. Previous series have included sets from: CHRIS ADDISON (In The Loop, The Thick of It); if.comedy Award-winner PHIL NICHOL; two time Perrier Award-nominee REGINALD D HUNTER; if.comedy Award-nominees WE ARE KLANG; Perrier Award-nominee JASON BYRNE; MARK WATSON; and STEWART LEE (co-creator Jerry Springer The Opera).
A busy year has seen RUSSELL HOWARD: record a fourth series of BBC TWO’s Mock The Week; host an episode of BBC ONE’s Live at the Apollo; extend his Dingledodies tour into summer 2009 to 86 dates, selling over 110,000 tickets in the process, including three gigs at London’s Hammersmith Apollo and one at Wembley Arena; and release his first ever stand-up DVD, Russell Howard Live, which has now sold over 140,000 copies.
ends
Edinburgh & Beyond will transmit on Comedy Central for six weeks from Saturday 25th July 2009
For more information on the new series please contact: Lucy Plosker, Jenny Stewart or Dan Lloyd at Avalon on 020 7598 7222 / lucyp@avalonuk.com / jenny.stewart@avalonuk.com or danl@avalonuk.com
INDIVIDUAL EPISODE BILLING
[in order of appearance]
Episode 1 - TX 25.07.09
RUSSELL HOWARD
STEVE WILLIAMS
ROB ROUSE
HENRY PAKER
CRAIG CAMPBELL
Episode 2 - TX 01.08.09
RUSSELL HOWARD
CARL DONNELLY
HENNING WHEN
MICKY FLANAGAN
KRISTEN SCHAAL
Episode 3 - TX 08.08.09
RUSSELL HOWARD
TOM WRIGGLESWORTH
AVA VIDAL
TOM STADE
RICHARD HERRING
Episode 4 - TX 15.08.09
RUSSELL HOWARD
GLENN WOOL
JOE WILKINSON
COLIN & FERGUS
TOM BASDEN
Episode 5 - TX 22.08.09
RUSSELL HOWARD
RUSSELL KANE
HOLLY WALSH
JACK WHITEHALL
JUSTIN EDWARDS
Episode 6 - TX 29.08.09
RUSSELL HOWARD
PAUL FOOT
TOM DEACON
ISY SUTTIE
STEPHEN K AMOS.
AVALON TELEVISION
Avalon Television is one of the leading producers of award-winning comedy and light entertainment programmes in the UK. Founded in 1993, the independent production house supplies television programming to all the British terrestrial channels and the leading cable and satellite stations, in addition to content for radio broadcasters.
Recent television productions include: a brand new comedy sketch show written by and starring the multi-award winning creator of The Pub Landlord, Al Murray’s Multiple Personality Disorder (ITV1); the double-BAFTA and British Comedy Award-winning Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV1); Al Murray’s Happy Hour (ITV1) - the British Comedy Award winning peak-time entertainment show; three series of the Royal Television Society and Rose D’Or award-winning sitcom Not Going Out (BBC ONE); the acclaimed Touch Me I’m Karen Taylor (BBC THREE); the Rose d’Or award-winning Kombat Opera Presents (BBC TWO), a series of contemporary musical comedies from the creator of the multi-award-winning hit musical Jerry Springer - The Opera, with collaborators including STEWART LEE, DAVE GORMAN and TERRY JONES; a feature-length documentary, written by and starring DAVE GORMAN, entitled Unchained America (More 4); Laura, Ben and Him, a multi-character sketch show for ITV2 written by and starring hotly-tipped new writer performers LAURA SOLON, BEN WILLBOND and MAREK LARWOOD; You Can Choose Your Friends (ITV1) - a 90-minute comedy-drama starring the late ANTON RODGERS and JULIA McKENZIE; a prime-time reality format in the US called Wake Up Call (ABC Network); and The Greg Behrendt Show, a first-run syndication show in the USA produced by Avalon Television and Sony.
Avalon Television also produces radio, with recent projects including: a sixth series of DAVID BADDIEL’S acclaimed BBC Radio 4 comic-discussion show, Heresy; series six of Out To Lunch (BBC Radio 2), a comedy show for Saturday afternoons hosted by RUSSELL KANE - featuring some of the finest up-and-coming comic talent currently working in the UK; a third series of Banter (BBC Radio 4), hosted by Sony Award-winning ANDREW COLLINS, a comedy panel show in which the guests including RICHARD HERRING and RUSSELL HOWARD are asked to hammer out Top Threes in categories covering anything from playwrights to Playstation; series two of Political Animal (BBC Radio 4), a socio-political satire show, hosted and linked by ANDY ZALTZMAN and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (More 4) regular JOHN OLIVER; and the forthcoming BBC Radio 2 series written by and starring ANNA CRILLY and KATY WIX.
OTHER SHOW CREDITS
The series producer is MARK AUGUSTYN. The executive producers are JON THODAY and RICHARD ALLEN-TURNER.
COMEDY CENTRAL
Whether your taste is sharp and satirical, warm hearted and familiar, fast paced and glossy, there is something for everyone on Comedy Central, the UK’s brand new Capital of Comedy.
Comedy Central features an incomparable line up of award-winning comedies, big name British stand-up and brand new UK commissions.
Catch premieres of America’s biggest sitcom Two and a Half Men, new big hitter Rules of Engagement, Steve Carrell’s The Office, The Sarah Silverman Program and for the first time catch brand new episodes of South Park as they TX in the US.
Comedy Central brings you big name stand up from the likes of Chris Rock, Dara O’Briain, Alan Carr, Russell Howard and Lee Evans and UK commissions with rising star Jim Jeffries as well as a special of Grouchy Young Men narrated by Robert Webb.
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COMEDY CENTRAL EXTRA
The channel to indulge in your favourite Comedy Central shows like Rules of Engagement, Everybody Hates Chris, Sex And The City, The Office and South Park with stacks of well loved entertainment.
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COMEDY CENTRAL INTERNATIONAL
For over 15 years, Comedy Central has been the first and only all-comedy network since its 1991 launch in the US. Now a global multimedia brand, Comedy Central brings viewers across the world the very best in comedy programming with seven dedicated channels and eighteen websites across the US, the UK, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Comedy Central is home to hit shows such as South Park, Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, and The Sarah Silverman Program as well as locally produced programming featuring home-grown talent. Comedy Central and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc.
