Bruce Dessau is the editor of comedy website Beyond the Joke
March 2018
Jim Bowen obituary
Comedian and host of the long-running TV gameshow Bullseye
October 2017
Sean Hughes obituary
Award-winning comedian who was a key figure in the evolution of modern standup and reached a wide TV audience on Never Mind the Buzzcocks
August 2016
TV and radio blog
Mrs Brown’s Boys v Mulholland Drive: a culture showdown
They were named the best sitcom and film of the 21st century, so a movie critic and TV critic swap places to reveal where these contenders shine on the big and small screen
March 2015
Trevor Noah – from Soweto to The Daily Show
At 31, the South African comic has hardly broken sweat through a meteoric rise that has taken him to one of the most high-profile spots on American television
June 2014
Chelsea Handler: "Comedy is more of a sport for men"
Having tired of interviewing celebrities, the outspoken comic has traded talkshow for travelogue. So is it true she once thought Switzerland and Swaziland were one and the same? Bruce Dessau finds out
September 2013
Comedy gold: the best standup on DVD
Comedy gold – Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure
Bruce Dessau: The self-mocking anecdotalist pinballs around the planet on an absurd, 91,000-mile trek fuelled only by goodhearted positivity
July 2013
Shortcuts
Should standup comedians write all their own jokes?
Music blog
Kanye West's sitcom? Don't give up your day job
April 2013
Shortcuts
Is Obama the world's funniest politician?
Barack Obama's spoof Spielberg film, in which he plays Daniel Day-Lewis playing Obama, proves the president is a witty guy. Does any other political comedy act measure up?
The debate
Do comedians lose their edge as they get older?
Viv Groskop and Bruce Dessau
Debate: Ben Elton's new BBC sitcom The Wright Way has received a critical mauling. At 53, is he too old now to cut it as a comedian? Viv Groskop and Bruce Dessau have their say
Margaret Thatcher had the last laugh in comedy
Bruce Dessau: Thatcher left an indelible impression on the comedy landscape, still felt today – sometimes in the strangest of ways
March 2013
Kevin Eldon: the bridesmaid becomes a bride
He has worked on virtually every landmark British TV comedy series – and now, at 53, Kevin Eldon is finally getting his own. Bruce Dessau meets the star of It's Kevin
February 2013
John O'Farrell: the comedian turned politician with a shot at Eastleigh
Bruce Dessau: Politics and comedy are increasingly two sides of the same coin, a trend an O'Farrell win in Thursday's byelection would underline
January 2013
Media interview
Alan Davies interview: 'I'm like a fine wine. I'm maturing'
Comedy at the O2 is no laughing matter
Bruce Dessau
December 2012
Stage rage: when standups heckle back
Bruce Dessau
TV and radio blog
British comedy awards: worthy winners?
October 2012
Frankie Boyle has won his racism case – but isn't it time for a change of routine?
Bruce Dessau
Bruce Dessau: Boyle is celebrating his victory over the Daily Mirror as a triumph for free speech. But his brand of cruel and provocative humour is wearing thin
August 2012
TV and radio blog
Comedy box sets to ward off the gloom
Bruce Dessau: There's no better way to cheer yourself up over a cold, wet weekend than to hunker down with a classic comedy series
July 2012
Eric Sykes: a life in clips
Bruce Dessau: It is for comedy that Eric Sykes will be remembered, and here – in clips from his own hit shows and alongside Tommy Cooper, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers – is why
