The Return of The Big Laugh-In: Labatts Apollo, Manchester, 1991
The Now Show (BBC Radio recording): BBC Radio Theatre, London, 2005 – 2012 (various dates)
The Now Show Live! Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2006
Punt & Dennis: Stuff and Nonsense: Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh, 2007
The Now Show (BBC Radio recording): BBC Radio Theatre, London, 2023
I first saw star of TV’s Outnumbered and Mock The Week regular, Hugh Dennis as part of The Mary Whitehouse Experience (with Steve Punt, David Baddiel and Rob Newman) at The Return of The Big Laugh-In at the Labatts Apollo, Manchester in 1991. The sketches were tight, funny and extremely popular with the audience.
Punt and Dennis went on to create The Now Show – the long-running BBC Radio 4 comedy series based on the week’s news and between 2005 and 2012 I saw many shows recorded for transmission. At the start of every recording, Punt and Dennis entertained the audience and Dennis and Dennis nearly always performed his dinosaur impression as well as Mr Strange and his Milky Milky catchphrase that the audience adored. The duo with guests took The Now Show to the Edinburgh Festival which I saw at the Pleasance Courtyard in 2006 and a year later they were back on tour with Stuff and Nonsense which I again saw at the Fringe. It was wonderful to go back to the BBC Radio Theatre for a recording in April 2023 of The Now Show in it’s 25th year.