Latest news with #BackintheSaddle
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Smack The Pony comedy troupe reunite over 20 YEARS after their Channel 4 series ended
The Smack The Pony comedy troupe are reuniting – more than 20 years after their comedy series ended on Channel 4. Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips are reviving their comic sketches for the Edinburgh Fringe festival at the Gilded Balloon this summer. The three comedians say they have lots of new ideas for skits and can't wait to reunite 24 years after the show came off air. In a statement, the trio said: 'This is slightly surreal because it's 24 years since we finished. We're not old comedy, we now qualify as vintage, which is cool. Is it?' 'Because we always talk sketch ideas when we get together, on some level it's almost as if 'Smack the Pony' never really stopped - that it just kept going in some parallel universe. 'So it feels like Gilded Balloon is some kind of portal and we'll be popping into catch up with Series 26. We're very grateful to have this chance to hang out and take the p*** out of ourselves again - we've missed it!' Their show, titled Back in the Saddle, will also feature broadcaster Kirsty Wark and will be a look back at the TV series with classic sketches revisited as well as their new material. Smack The Pony - which was created by Victoria Pile, who also wrote surreal hospital sitcom Green Wing - ran on Channel 4 for three series from 1999 to 2002, and concluded with two specials broadcast over Christmas 2002 and New Year 2003. Back in 2019, 'Two Doors Down' actress Doon, 62, revealed in an interview with The i newspaper that the trio had written a host of fresh sketches for a potential TV comeback but executives were not interested in bringing back 'Smack The Pony'. She said: 'It's just been really difficult. We've pitched to a few places and it's not happening. 'I don't know whether it's [because it's] older women but it's not happening, which is, to me, astonishing. You think, how funny does it have to be? With the brand?' Doon, Fiona, 60, and Sally, 54, previously reunited for a sketch for Red Nose Day in 2017. Chris McCausland is not returning for a second series of his talk show. The Chris McCausland Show ran on ITV for 11 episodes and saw the stand-up comedian interview an array of celebrity guests, including Paul Whitehouse, Rob Beckett, Pixie Lott and more. The comic's publicist has released a statement revealing that Chris, 47, made the decision to walk away from the programme to pursue other projects. The 2024 Strictly Come Dancing winner has been inundated with work offers since becoming the first blind contestant to take home the Glitterball Trophy on the BBC One ballroom show. The publicist told comedy news website Chortle: 'It was Chris who stepped away from this show. It was a great experience but he's looking at other opportunities and there have been a lot of offers since 'Strictly'.' Chris' next confirmed project is a BBC Two documentary which will focus on how technology has changed the way he has been able to continue his life after losing his sight by age 22 due to the genetic condition retinitis pigmentosa. Seeing Into The Future will show Chris visiting Silicon Valley and investigating the latest technology helping people with blindness and severe sight issues. Chris will also be releasing his memoir later this year. Announcing the book in January 2025, he said: 'I thought 'Strictly' was terrifying but my book has a release date and I haven't started writing it yet.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Saturday Night Live' Highlights: Jack Black Pumps Up the Crowd at Studio 8H and at Home
After last week's slightly languid 'Saturday Night Live' episode hosted by Mikey Madison, there was no doubt that Jack Black needed to bring the energy and boy, did he not disappoint. Following a pretty standard cold open featuring James Austin Johnson as Trump announcing his tariffs, as well as yet another appearance from Mike Myers as Elon Musk, Black took to the main Studio 8H stage as if he was being shot out of a cannon. Though initially unsure if he should take another spin as host, the band playing Aerosmith's 'Back in the Saddle' prompted Black to grab a mic and use the entire studio as his stage. Not only could Bill Burr and Kieran Culkin (both currently in the Broadway revival of 'Glengarry Glen Ross') be seen in the crowd, but if you look closely, a few faces from 'School of Rock' were visible as well. More from IndieWire 'The Last of Us' Showrunner Says Bella Ramsey Is 'Certainly Grown' Enough to Play Ellie in Season 2 Kenan Thompson Wouldn't Mind Being a 'Forever Cast Member' on 'Saturday Night Live' Though all of Black's live sketches offered at least a few giggles, if not an outright cackle, the one that really showed off his comedy chops was a pre-taped bit that doubles as a commercial for both Flamin' Hot Cheetos and the hemorrhoid treatment Preparation H. While the conceit is funny enough, Black's over-the-top presentation and forceful enthusiasm for the combination of both products brings the gag to a whole other level, making this one of the best commercial parodies 'SNL' has done in quite some time. While 'The Lonely Island' is no longer a full-time part of 'SNL,' their impact on the show has remained, with pre-taped musical sketches now a staple of the variety series. Not all of these bits have landed in the absence of 'The Lonely Island,' but last night's 'Goth Kid on Vacation' was top tier, harkening back to the glory days of 'I'm On a Boat' and 'Dick in a Box.' Featuring Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim as a Jamaican singing duo, the song is a jaunty ear-worm that recalls the one sibling in most families unable to enjoy an easy-going vacation in paradise. Michael Longfellow is hilarious as the eponymous goth kid, with Black offering a killer emo-inspired solo in the middle of the song as well. Colin Jost and Michael Che have been delivering 3-pointers all season at the Weekend Update desk, proving why they've been mainstays on the show for over a decade, but last night, Nwodim ate them both up for a bit that recalled the Def Jam style of stand-up comedy from the 1990s. Referencing the recent news that Trump's White House Correspondents' Dinner would break with tradition and not feature a comedian as host — even after Amber Ruffin had already been announced for the job — Nwodim decided to offer her own skills to show that you can still be funny without referencing politics. Instead, Nwodim's jokes focused around the food being served at the function and not being able to find a good man. Things went off-the-rails when she tried to get the audience to participate, proving that sometimes the best part of 'SNL' are the moments you can't plan for. Again, all of the live sketches last night were better than many featured during 'SNL 50,' purely based on Black's own strong sense of timing, as well as the cast's comfort working with a true professional who is on their level or higher. However, the one that stood above the rest came a bit later in the evening, with Black playing a band leader performing on a pier near 'Bass Lake.' As he offers others to join him on stage for a rendition of Tom Petty's 'Freefallin',' a host of what we'll politely call 'gator-trash' appear, ready to perform. The only problem is that they all insist on playing bass, a notion that soon gets out-of-hand, as the intensity of the sound begins the compromise the structure they're standing on. 'Saturday Night Live' returns next week, April 12, with host Jon Hamm and musical guest Lizzo. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie The 55 Best LGBTQ Movies and TV Shows Streaming on Netflix Right Now
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘You are my Sunshine' Louisiana's singing governor's history explored in book
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Louisiana historian is reevaluating the song that projected a Shreveport musician into the governorship. Jimmie Davis, known as the 'singing governor,' is credited with making the song 'You Are My Sunshine' a worldwide hit in 1939. Davis was from Shreveport, and the song's fame helped him win elections for Louisiana Governor twice, from 1944 to 1948 and again from 1960 to 1964. Author and historian Robert Mann analyzes the song's complicated legacy in his newest book, 'You Are My Sunshine: Jimmie Davis and the Biography of a Song.' Part of Mann's research is based on materials from the Northwest Louisiana Archives, which has detailed records and recordings of Davis' personal life in Shreveport and his music career, starting with KWKH's Saturday Night Roundup in the 1930s. 'Davis sang on the Saturday Night Roundup, which was hosted in the Municipal Auditorium and broadcast on the radio long before the Louisiana Hayride came into existence,' said Laura McLemore, head archivist of the Northwest Louisiana Archives.' Robert Mann primarily used the Robert and Laurie Gentry Collection, an extensive compilation of the music of this region, especially the Louisiana Hayride. Louisiana Hayride recordings from Elvis, Hank Williams, others available online 'He also used parts of our Bob Hill collection and interviews from our oral history collection, which covers a wide range of subjects and topics.' Davis came to the area as a history teacher at Dodd College for Girls and stayed for the musical scene and industry connections, which included the Louisiana Hayride. Davis served as Shreveport's public safety commissioner from 1938 to 1942 and then as Louisiana's public service commissioner before winning the governor's seat for the first time in 1944. Davis was the third to record 'You Are My Sunshine publicly.' His version helped to make the song popular, and artists like Bing Crosby recorded their own versions in the next few years. The song appeared in Gene Autry's 1941 movie 'Back in the Saddle.' The tune had been recorded by 350 artists in 30 different languages by the year 2000, earning the song a Grammy Hall of Fame award and the No. 73 country song of all-time in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music. The Northwest Louisiana Archives has a Jimmie Davis exhibit that includes Davis' version of the song as well as earlier recordings by The Pine Ridge Boys and The Rice Brothers earlier in 1939. The exhibit also features press clippings and other Jimmie Davis items. Fly and tour historic WWII aircraft at Shreveport Downtown Airport Davis won his second term as Louisiana governor in 1960 by pledging to fight desegregation. The exhibit also includes press clippings from The Shreveport Sun, the city's black-owned newspaper, which shows local and national stories from the 1950s and 1960s. The biography is Mann's 10th book on Louisiana and political history, as he is arguably the most revered source in that field. Mann will host a discussion and book signing at the LSU Shreveport campus inside the Noel Memorial Library on Wednesday, April 2, at 11 a.m. Hardcover books can be purchased for $29.95, and e-books are available on the Leaf e-reader app for $19.95. The book was published by LSU Press. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
