When you hear the word 'Christmas' what do you think? Probably turkey, mistletoe, presents, family. How about comedy? It's hardly the first thing that jumps to mind, but a Christmas without laughter isn't much of a Christmas at all. That's probably why December is our busiest month of the year; with numerous sell out shows and people partying with us til the early hours. Laughter is the perfect way to unwind and make the most of the time you have with family and friends.
With only a week of shows left (acts including Gary Delaney and Ivan Brackenbury) our minds are now turning to the best ways to get yourself giggling when your favourite comedy club is closed for the week.
FILMS
There are literally hundreds of films on over the holiday period butt some are always worth watching year after year. The awesome slapstick of 'Home Alone' never fails to delight, helped along by the surprisingly decent acting of the young Macaulay Culkin (or Mac has he no prefers).
Having just bagged the 'International Achievement' award at this years British Comedy Awards (much to the chagrin of our friend Johnny Vegas) Will Ferrell's comedy classic 'Elf' will surely get a prime time slot sometime in the next couple of weeks. It manages to be one of those few films that genuinely ticks the box for both adults and children alike.
Similarly Jim Carrey's performance in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' raises the film up to be more than just a kids film. Well worth a look if you've not seen it.
BOARD GAMES
Whilst Monopoly and Ludo tend to reduce families to tears rather than laughter there are plenty of board games kicking about today which are actually (dare we say it) fun. Balderdash has been kicking about for quite a few years now but it never loses it's shine. A per-cursor to the TV show 'Would I Lie to You', the object of the game is to convince your friends and family that your lie is in fact a far-flung fact.
Articulate is another great game, partly because the concept is so simple. The game sees you trying to describe everyday objects without using 'rhymes with' or 'sounds like'. This simple concept becomes ten times harder when you include a timer and your families natural competative streak.
Also it's not a board game, but Christmas would be Christmas without a game of Charades, even if your uncle does insist on trying to do Free Willy every time.
SONGS
Most Christmas are played ad nausea from about the end of August to the start of the new year. Despite this, there are a few great comic songs which you never get to hear on the radio. Take Weird Al Yankovic's 'The Night Santa Went Crazy' for instance; there's guns, bling and decapitation a plenty here which means no radio station in their right mind would touch it, but it's still a good holiday listen.
Peter Kay's comedy creation Geraldine McQueen may have only had two hits to her name but to be fair one of them has done pretty well for itself. 'Once Upon A Christmas Song' manages to both satirise and embrace everything about the traditional Christmas tune. It's repetitive and juvenile but also kind of brilliant. You'll be singing it over and over and over again.
Not really a comedy song but instead a brilliantly heartfelt seasonal number from musical comedian Tim Minchin. There aren't many songs which really capture anything with such honesty and humour as this one, and if you've never heard 'White Wine in the Sun' then you really should. It might just be your new favourite yule tide tune.
TV
If you've never seen the IT Crowd before then now is the time to jump on 4OD and cram before the final episode is aired on Christmas Eve. A properly good show that has all the elements of a great sitcom: farce, slapstick, ridiculous characters and brilliant pathos. Providing it doesn't go tits up in the last episode it will be one of the few British sitcoms to not have outstayed its welcome.
1:30pm, Christmas Day, you've got everyone round, what do you stick on the telly? Well we defy anyone not to enjoy 'You've Been Framed! At Christmas'. Whether your 7 or 97 it's always funny watching someone get knocked down by a toboggan, that's just a fact of life.
Although 'The Big Fat Quiz...' formula has been milked to death recently, much like anything Jimmy Carr is involved with (8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown' anyone?), its yearly outing is still worth a watch, if only to see what comment the Daily Mail will try and work up in to some media furor. It's like going to the pub quiz, only you get to sit inside and eat left over turkey.
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Man, too much Christmas talk has left us craving a mince pie or five. Merry Christmas Tonic fans. We look forward to seeing you in the new year.
Showing posts with label Comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comedy. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Monday, 28 October 2013
Dave's Leciester Comedy Festival 2014
It's late October, and whilst we may still have Halloween, Bonfire Night, Bodhi Day, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, New Year and Hedgehog Day (2nd of February if you don't have your diary handy), there's something else we're getting excited about. The 7th of February, otherwise known as the start of Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival 2014. Leicester may only be the10th largest city in the country but it boasts the biggest comedy festival in the whole country.
At the 2013 festival Just the Tonic put on some awesome shows, sold thousands of tickets and bagged ourselves a nice award (Best Venue over 200 capacity). But for 2014 we're determined to out-do ourselves, so we've revealed our line up extra early and tickets are available to buy from our website right now. It'd be impossible to list all 80+ shows here in one post but below are some of the gens we have on offer to whet your appetite.
Mark Olver's Dancing About Architecture
Quite simply one of our favourite shows. Mark is an award winning comedian in his own right and is adored on the circuit for his awesome compering and warm-up work for shows like 'Deal or No Deal', 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks', '8 Out of 10 Cats' and many others. Dancing About Architecture is a chat show for comedians about comedy. Interesting and hilarious in equal measure, every show is unique and boasts some of the best guests from the comedy world.
8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 22nd, 23rd Feb - Just the Tonic Leicester
Brett Goldstein Strikes Back (Work in Progress)
It might be a bit presumptuous of us to be getting excited about this already but Brett bagged the award for Best New Show at the DLCF 2013 awards ceremony. He's also a very nice man who we loved meeting last time. His show will be in our new venue at the Regent Club on Regent Road.
21st Feb - Just the Tonic @ The Regent's Club
John Cooper Clarke
Britain’s best loved and most important performance poet is back with us by popular demand. He completely sold out our venue at the 2013 festival with people begging us to release more tickets. Biting, satirical and very funny, this show will sell out so please book early to avoid disappointment.
10th Feb - Just the Tonic Leicester
Phil Nichol Late Night Electric Watermelon
We love Phil Nichol. We work with hundreds of comedians and he is one of the funniest, friendliest, most entertaining we've ever met. This show is an album of 19 comedy songs he's written in the last decade. From the mind that brought you 'The Only Gay Eskimo' and 'Panda's Must Die', this show will be awesome.
13th Feb - Just the Tonic @ The Regent's Club
So there's just a taster, a morsel, a canape in the banquet of comedy we have in store for you. There's still plenty more highlights to come which will feature on this blog in the coming months plus full line-ups for some of our compilation shows such as the sell-out Midnight Shows.
Keep laughing.
JTT
At the 2013 festival Just the Tonic put on some awesome shows, sold thousands of tickets and bagged ourselves a nice award (Best Venue over 200 capacity). But for 2014 we're determined to out-do ourselves, so we've revealed our line up extra early and tickets are available to buy from our website right now. It'd be impossible to list all 80+ shows here in one post but below are some of the gens we have on offer to whet your appetite.
Mark Olver's Dancing About Architecture
Quite simply one of our favourite shows. Mark is an award winning comedian in his own right and is adored on the circuit for his awesome compering and warm-up work for shows like 'Deal or No Deal', 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks', '8 Out of 10 Cats' and many others. Dancing About Architecture is a chat show for comedians about comedy. Interesting and hilarious in equal measure, every show is unique and boasts some of the best guests from the comedy world.
8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 22nd, 23rd Feb - Just the Tonic Leicester
Brett Goldstein Strikes Back (Work in Progress)
It might be a bit presumptuous of us to be getting excited about this already but Brett bagged the award for Best New Show at the DLCF 2013 awards ceremony. He's also a very nice man who we loved meeting last time. His show will be in our new venue at the Regent Club on Regent Road.
21st Feb - Just the Tonic @ The Regent's Club
John Cooper Clarke
Britain’s best loved and most important performance poet is back with us by popular demand. He completely sold out our venue at the 2013 festival with people begging us to release more tickets. Biting, satirical and very funny, this show will sell out so please book early to avoid disappointment.
10th Feb - Just the Tonic Leicester
Phil Nichol Late Night Electric Watermelon
We love Phil Nichol. We work with hundreds of comedians and he is one of the funniest, friendliest, most entertaining we've ever met. This show is an album of 19 comedy songs he's written in the last decade. From the mind that brought you 'The Only Gay Eskimo' and 'Panda's Must Die', this show will be awesome.
13th Feb - Just the Tonic @ The Regent's Club
So there's just a taster, a morsel, a canape in the banquet of comedy we have in store for you. There's still plenty more highlights to come which will feature on this blog in the coming months plus full line-ups for some of our compilation shows such as the sell-out Midnight Shows.
Keep laughing.
JTT
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Just the Tonic Joins the Blogosphere
Check 1,2. Are we live?
Hello there intrepid internet adventurer and welcome to the new Just the Tonic blog. Whilst we're always pretty active on Facebook and twitter, neither platform really give us a chance to ruminate at length, so hopefully this blog will do that, whilst providing you with some interesting stuff.
Of course you may be wondering what Just the Tonic is? Well, we are a comedy club.We have been running for over 20 years, have branches in Nottingham and Leicester plus run one of the biggest venues at the world renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We book loads of other gigs around the midlands and the south, won Best Venue at the Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival awards this year and support comedians at every level of the circuit, from fresh faced newbies to comedy giants. Basically we're pretty bloody good.
So, what can you expect from this blog? We'll be using it to keep you up-to-date with what we've got planned, we'll have some exclusive interviews with comedians, hints and tips on becoming a comedian and general news from the comedy world.
We hope you'll enjoy it.
Speak soon
JTT
Hello there intrepid internet adventurer and welcome to the new Just the Tonic blog. Whilst we're always pretty active on Facebook and twitter, neither platform really give us a chance to ruminate at length, so hopefully this blog will do that, whilst providing you with some interesting stuff.
Of course you may be wondering what Just the Tonic is? Well, we are a comedy club.We have been running for over 20 years, have branches in Nottingham and Leicester plus run one of the biggest venues at the world renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We book loads of other gigs around the midlands and the south, won Best Venue at the Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival awards this year and support comedians at every level of the circuit, from fresh faced newbies to comedy giants. Basically we're pretty bloody good.
So, what can you expect from this blog? We'll be using it to keep you up-to-date with what we've got planned, we'll have some exclusive interviews with comedians, hints and tips on becoming a comedian and general news from the comedy world.
We hope you'll enjoy it.
Speak soon
JTT
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