Stand-Up Comedy – Well Eye Never

January 2026 Favourites

Hello again, I hope your year’s got off to a good start. For me, as noted in my recent update about my career and being a carer, my circumstances are set to change due to my mother’s ongoing support needs and funding cuts for my current job role. But Mum is much better than she was last year, I’ve already secured a new freelance position, and I have other financial support, so there’s good reason to be positive and hopeful about the year ahead.

I’m also celebrating 10 years of blogging and YouTubing, and that decade has really flown by! Thank you so much if you’ve played any part in that, whether it’s quietly reading my posts or interacting with me in some way, I really appreciate it!

But to focus on January, I have started going out and about more again, now that my mother’s situation has eased a bit. So I’ve met a couple of friends, eaten some delicious food and taken a few nice walks. Meanwhile at home, alongside my usual favourite TV programmes, I’ve been having a stand-up comedy binge by watching several specials and finishing an autobiography. So there’s quite a bit to mention as usual, none of which is sponsored to appear here, and I hope you enjoy!

Chris McCausland – Keep Laughing Review

I’ve mentioned Chris McCausland several times in my blog in recent years, because he’s one of my favourite comedians, and not because he’s blind. He’s very funny, clever and down to earth, a genuine nice guy, and I got to see him live a few years ago, which I hope to do again at some point. Recently I also enjoyed his fascinating documentary Seeing Into The Future, and he’s done great podcast interviews with the BBC, Channel 4 News and Romesh Ranganathan.

And now my mother and I have listened to the audiobook of his new autobiography, Keep Laughing, and we’ve really enjoyed it, so I wanted to do a review here as well. This isn’t sponsored or gifted, I’m just a fan, and I hope you find it interesting.

Jack Dee – Stand-Up Comedy Reviews

Recently I celebrated John Bishop’s 25 years in comedy by watching and reviewing several of his great stand-up shows, including the latest one that aired on Sky Comedy over Christmas.

Another of my favourite comedians who also had a new special on Sky was Jack Dee. He’s been on the circuit even longer, making audiences laugh since he first set foot on stage in the late 80s, and really came to prominence on TV from the early 90s onwards. So he’s been going strong for over 35 years. I’ve seen him in many shows on TV in that time, and I also enjoy listening to him on I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue on BBC Radio 4, as he’s proven to be the perfect host since taking over from the late, great Humphrey Lyttelton back in 2009.

Jack is of course known for his deadpan, sarcastic and grumpy stage persona, and he uses it to wonderful comedic effect. He does laugh sometimes, of course, but he’s usually very good at staying in character. It’s easiest to see him laughing more naturally in interviews, as well as the Oh My Dog podcast with Seann Walsh and guests, which isn’t the kind of podcast that interests me, but from a quick look at it out of curiosity, they do seem to have a lot of fun banter.

All that said, however, the truth is that he does actually suffer from depression, and has done for many years. So it’s good that he’s been open about it in interviews, which helps to raise awareness. He manages it well, and being able to channel his energy through his comedy has been life-changing for him.

So his latest stand-up special has given me a good excuse to rewatch and review his old DVDs, as it’s been quite some time since I’ve gone through them. Most of his DVDs don’t have extra features, but there’s plenty more footage of Jack online of course, as you can on my Youtube playlist. So I hope you enjoy looking through it all.

John Bishop – Stand-Up Comedy Reviews

Back in October 2000, a depressed and almost divorced Liverpudlian called John Bishop naively put his name down for an open mic spot, despite having no experience of stand-up whatsoever, purely to avoid paying £4 to enter the Frog & Bucket comedy club in Manchester.

He didn’t expect to be invited on stage, but he was, and his off-the-cuff debut monologue that night triggered a chain of events that saved his marriage to Melanie and launched his stand-up career. It’s a really sweet story – one that’s actually inspired the new film called Is This Thing On?, directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Will Arnett. It seems to be getting good reviews too, so I will watch it and give my reaction to it at some stage, if not in the cinema then after it becomes available online.

25 years on from that first appearance, having since become one of the most successful comedians of the 21st century, John has been celebrating the milestone with a new tour, from which one of the performances was broadcast on Sky in December. He’s also posted a few shows from the past couple of years and a video diary from his new tour over on Youtube.

I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, having bought all of his stand-up DVDs that were released between 2010-2018. I just think he’s a very funny observational story-teller and a really nice, down to earth guy, and I like how he does something a little bit special or different at the end of some of his shows, rather than just finishing with a joke. In the past I’ve seen a few TV programmes that he’s been in as well, including his self-titled shows, but most notable for me was his stint as companion Dan Lewis in Jodie Whittaker’s era of Doctor Who, and last year’s cameo in the ITV drama Code Of Silence alongside Rose Ayling-Ellis.

So now’s the perfect time for me to mark his anniversary by having a Bishop binge on his stand-up material, revisiting his DVDs that I haven’t watched for a while and then checking out his newer material that I haven’t seen at all before. And I’ve also compiled a playlist with a selection of clips and interviews. So I hope you enjoy!

Christmas 2025 Favourites – Part 1

It’s been a long year for my mother and I, so we’re glad that Christmas has finally come around, and thankfully the preparations have been going well, just as I hope they have been for you. Granted, there is the potential loss of my job next year hanging over my head, through no fault of my own, but that won’t affect me as severely as the friend I provide support for. And given everything that’s already gone on at home during 2025, my mother and I just want to relax, forget about our problems and over-indulge to celebrate Christmas, as you’re supposed to do. And we’ve got everything we need for that.

So I’ve actually been able to go out and about in London a few times this month, now that Mum’s more comfortable being on her own in the house again, having got some of her independence and confidence back. Sometimes it’s just been for walks, but I’ve also met up with a friend as well.

And then at home I’ve been enjoying a lot of entertainment, including dramas, comedies and music. Some things are still ongoing or are on my to do list, so I won’t mention them just yet, but there are already plenty of bits and pieces I can talk about already. So with the usual disclaimer that none of this is sponsored or gifted, I hope you enjoy this varied selection.

Micky Flanagan – Stand-Up DVD Reviews

Comedian Micky Flanagan is a proper Cockney geezer from London, having grown up in the East End of the city not too far from where I live now. So I feel some affinity with him, and I do enjoy his humour. Not to the same level as some of my absolute favourite comedians, I wouldn’t put him in my top 10. But he is funny, and having bought his new DVD that came out recently, I figured it was a good excuse to rewatch his earlier shows that I have in my collection as well, just like I’ve done with some other comedians previously.

The shows in this post have all been repeated on Sky during December (as the latest release was first broadcast last year, though I didn’t get around to seeing it at the time), and the first two are also on Netflix. But I like to have my own copies of shows on DVD, as it’s much more convenient than relying on TV schedules and streaming services, and there are a small selection of extras on Micky’s first few DVDs.

So with a warning that the videos in this post contain strong language and adult humour, I hope you enjoy this little set of reviews.

April 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you had a wonderful Easter and a lovely April in general. This has been my busiest month for a while, as there’s lots to mention in terms of outings, including social events, a musical and a concert, along with TV shows and films I’ve been watching at home.

The concert I went to was a PR invite for me to review, but otherwise nothing is sponsored to appear here, and in any case all opinions are my own as usual. So let’s jump straight into April’s post and video roundup, and I hope you enjoy!

March 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you’re doing alright, and welcome to my latest roundup. March has been a bit of a mixed month for me, what with losing our Virgin Media service for almost a week (thankfully now fixed), and hearing about the government’s plans to cut disability benefits (which I’ve talked at length about in a separate post).

But there have been good things too, as I saw a couple of my favourite entertainers live for the first time, and enjoyed a variety of bits and pieces at home. So I’m going to focus on all of that in this post and video, which is relatively short I know, but I hope you find it interesting as usual!

February 2025 Favourites

Hello again. After a nice quiet January, this has been a slightly busier month for me, as I paid a visit to Kew Gardens to see their Orchid Festival, and I went to the cinema with a couple of friends. The latter in turn led to me watching a few more animated films at home, which has been a bit of a theme recently given my previous reviews of Wallace & Gromit and other Aardman productions, although this time they’re Disney films. So there are a few bits and pieces to mention in this month’s post and video, none of which is sponsored or gifted as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

January 2025 Favourites

Well, hello there, and welcome to my first roundup of the year – which has got off to a very cold, wet and windy start here in the UK. We’ve been better off staying cosy and warm indoors, so I haven’t done anything really notable out and about this month. I did buy myself a lovely new winter coat in M&S though, plus I got a much-needed haircut and had a few little walks, but that was it really. I have plans for the months ahead though, so I’m not concerned about that.

Besides, a quiet start to the year is quite welcome, especially after a busy and somewhat stressful Christmas thanks to our old cooker breaking down. But thankfully the new Beko cooker we had installed this month is working wonderfully. It took a little bit of getting used to at first, as the numbers on the dials go in the opposite direction than we’re used to, and the method of ignition using a button while pushing in the dials is slightly different to our old cooker. But we soon got the hang of it, and it cooks everything really well, better than our old appliance did. We’ve done meat joints, steaks, pizzas, fish, etc in the oven, which have all come out perfectly when following the packaging instructions, I’ve become a dab hand at doing delicious cheese on toast under the grill, and the hob heats things like vegetables and gravy very efficiently. So we’re happy with it, and let’s hope that remains the case for a while!

So with all that said, there are just a few bits of entertainment to mention in this month’s post and video. I did consider holding back my next update until February, but after an epic Christmas roundup, followed by a couple of lengthy reviews that I’m going to highlight here, it’s nice to do something a bit shorter. So I’m sorry it’s relatively brief, but nevertheless I hope you enjoy!

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