Comedy of the Week

This week, we have a very special guest, Jon Stewart! Jon joins Armando and Helen to discuss whether Trump is the political equivalent of Miles Davis, the quaintness of UK politics compared to the US, Jon does a flawless Margaret Thatcher impression and they answer the age old question... are escalators the most emascualting form of travel?Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended episode.Have you stumbled upon any perplexing political phrases you need Helen and Armando to decode? Email them to us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.ukSound Editing by Charlie Brandon-King Production Coordinator - Sarah Nicholls Executive Producer - Pete StraussProduced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4. An EcoAudio Certified Production.

In this week’s case Alfie investigates an assault on an elderly man at a bus stop. But what could have provoked such a cowardly crime?Join former-cop turned stand-up comedian, Alfie Moore and his audience of sworn-in deputies as they ask if compassion is a thing of the past.It's a Fair Cop is the show where you, the audience, help deal with the cases Alfie's unearthed from 20 years of policing experience, to take a comic look at the law.For more episodes, search "It's a Fair Cop" on BBC Sounds.Written and presented by Alfie Moore Script Editor: Will Ing Production Co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow Producer: Sam HolmesA BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4

Can political discussion be funny? Er - yes!Top political comedian Matt Forde convenes his focus group in front of a live theatre audience with guests comedian Pierre Novellie, Baroness Ayesha Hazarika and former Director of Communications at Number 10, Guto Harri - to see if a few sparks fly as they examine different ways people are pandered to and whether they have ever done any pandering themselves.To hear more episodes, search "The Matt Forde Focus Group" on BBC Sounds.Written and performed by Matt Forde Additional writing from Karl Minns, Katie Storey and Richard Garvin Producer: Richard Garvin Co Producers: Daisy Knight and Jules Lom Broadcast Assistant: Jenny Recaldin Sound Design and Editing: David Thomas An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4

We hear Clive Anderson's new word for the mystery of hotel bathrooms, Sindhu Vee's term to measure cuteness, and a nail-biting finish from Ed Gamble.Ever struggled to find the right word for a feeling or sensation? Unspeakable sees comedian Phil Wang and lexicographer Susie Dent invite celebrity guests to invent new linguistic creations, to solve those all too relatable moments when we're lost for words.Hosts: Phil Wang and Susie Dent Guests: Clive Anderson, Ed Gamble and Sindhu Vee Created by Joe Varley Writers: Matt Crosby and Katie Storey Recorded by Jerry Peal Producer: Jon Harvey Executive Producers: Joe Varley and Akash LockmunA Brown Bred production for BBC Radio 4

Have you ever considered becoming a foster carer?Multi award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean hadn’t - until a chance radio advert changed everything.In this heartfelt and inspiring half-hour special, recorded in front of a live audience, Kiri shares the unexpected and deeply personal journey that led her to become a Local Authority foster carer on the Welsh island of Ynys Môn. With her signature wit and warmth, Kiri lifts the lid on the system and offers a moving, candid, and funny account of what it truly means to open your home - and your heart - to a child in need.First broadcast during Foster Care Fortnight in the UK, this programme shines a timely spotlight on the extraordinary power of ordinary people to make a difference.Written and performed by Kiri Pritchard-McLean Producer: Tashi Radha Executive Producer : Suzy Grant Sound Engineers: Jerry Peal & Jon Last Production Manager: Sarah SharpeA Listen production for Radio 4

The standout satirist of the social media age, Michael Spicer, returns with his sketch comedy show that targets the exponential lunacy of the politics and culture that is overwhelming us.Apprentice hopefuls are challenged to create the perfect, sustainable planet. Can the boys' team rise to the challenge, or will they be fired directly into a supernova? And our government troubleshooters - all called Tim - solve the immigration crisis once and for all.The new series of No Room comes after a critically acclaimed first series that built on MICHAEL Spicer's social media output, which took off when he created his Room Next Door government advisor character. His withering takedowns of politicians have amassed more than 100 million views and helped keep his audience sane in fractured times.Writer, Performer and Co-Editor: Michael SpicerComposer and Sound Designer: Augustin BousfieldProducer: Matt TillerA Tillervision production for BBC Radio 4

Multi-award winning comedian and author Mark Watson continues his probably doomed, but luckily funny quest to make sense of the human experience.This series is about time - the days of the week, the stages of our existence - and the way we use it to make sense of things. We make our way through the working week, tonight considering 'hump day' - Wednesday. Wednesday's child, famously, is full of woe. Both Mark and Esther are in this category. Is the woe a real issue or merely a fairy tale? What is the bleakest joke ever told by a four-year-old? And what would Thomas Hardy make of this series?Expect jokes, observations and interactions galore as Mark is aided, and sometimes obstructed, by the sardonic musical excellence of Flo & Joan. There's also a hand-picked comedy colleague each week - here, we welcome Esther Manito.Producer: Lianne CoopAn Impatient production for BBC Radio 4

Jon Holmes remixes the news into a current affairs comedy concept album. News meets popular culture in a multi-award-winning mash up. This week: Charlie XCX is bumpin' that with Donald Trump, Minecraft Movie vs Russia, and Starmer: Man of Steel.Producer: Jon Holmes An unusual production for BBC Radio 4

The Naked Week team are back to place satirical news-tariffs on current events with a mix of correspondents, guests and, occasionally, live animals.This week we mourn the death of globalisation, take a tour of Keir's new theme park, and play a game of BBC Balance Local Elections Naked Week Joke Twister.From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.Written by: Jon Holmes Katie Sayer Gareth Ceredig Sarah Dempster Jason Hazeley.Investigations Team: Cat Neilan Louis Mian Freya Shaw Matt BrownGuests: Freya Parker and Alicia Fitzgerald.Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer, Phoebe Butler.Executive Producer: Philip Abrams Produced and Directed by Jon HolmesAn unusua

The first four episodes of Call Jonathan Pie series 2 are now available on BBC Sounds, subscribe to be alerted when new episodes in the series are released.Frustrated call-show host Jonathan Pie is back along with his trusted team – Pie’s finding the daily grind difficult and the team have all become as disillusioned with the world as he has. The new series kicks off with a discussion about the BBC licence fee, or at least it was supposed to. It soon becomes clear however that Pie must answer for past mistakes. Call Jonathan Pie is written and performed by Tom Walker. With additional material by Nick Revell and Daniel Abelson Jules ….. Lucy Pearman Sam ….. Aqib Khan Roger ….. Nick Revell. The callers; Adam Byron, Laura Shavin, Daniel Abelson, Sarah Gabriel and Ed KearProducers Alison Vernon-Smith and Julian Mayers A Yada-Yada Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

Dan Tiernan doesn't just perform stand up - he attacks it. In Going Under, he debuts his unique brand of furious, unpredictable and wildly entertaining comedy on the radio, covering living with dyspraxia, becoming a dinner lady, and his sister's cancer diagnosis.An exhilarating mix of raw personal chaos, cutting observations, and gloriously queasy gags, recorded live at Backyard Comedy Club.Written and Performed by Dan Tiernan Produced by Ewan McAdamProduction Manager - Laura Shaw Executive Producer - Charlie Dinkin A Daddy's SuperYacht Production for BBC Radio 4.

The secret of the bees, an unusual secret Santa and the secret to a happy marriage all feature in this week’s show, written by the next generation of comedy writers.DMs Are Open is back for a brand new series. Stevie Martin is your host and she’s brought together an incredible cast of comedy legends: Al Roberts, Charlotte Ritchie, Sunil Patel and Emily Lloyd-Saini.Written by the public. This week it was written by:Steve Blair Jo Bunting Caitriona Dowden Aruhan Galieva Ben Pope Vicky Richards Christina Riggs Pete TelloucheScript Edited by Cameron Loxdale and Mike Shephard.Producer: Georgia Keating Assistant Producer: Katie Baum Executive Producer: James Robinson Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls Recorded by David Thomas Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-KingRecorded at Up The Creek.A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4. An EcoAudio certified production.

More than 13 million people in this country can be classed as disabled, often in ways we don’t think or talk about – sometimes in ways which even they are not fully conscious of. The spectrum of mental and physical disability is far wider than most of us have ever thought about. It’s an elephant in the room - we can all see it (unless we’re visually impaired) but none of us talk about it (unless we have Tourette Syndrome).If you’re uncomfortable with these jokes, don’t worry, this show isn’t always going to be comfortable. But it will be subversive, celebratory, and absolutely unlike anything else you’ve ever heard on the radio – or, very likely, anywhere else.Under the stewardship of sassy American import, Spring Day, The 13 Million Club brings together a remarkable range of talents and a collection of fresh perspectives in a smorgasbord of stand-up and spiky consumer pieces.From dwarfism to Parkinson’s, via cystic fibrosis, hearing loss, Tourette’s, life in a wheelchair and more besides, we laugh at and wit

Stand-up, philosophy and memoir from the godfather of alternative comedy, Alexei Sayle.In this episode, Alexei recalls his unorthodox upbringing in Liverpool, his subsequent move to London, and a woman called Mrs Cocker who said something that has stuck with him for ever.Written and performed by Alexei Sayle.The song was written and composed by Tim Sutton with:Sophie Creaner - clarinet and sax Tom Ellis - acoustic guitar Matt Sharp - celloProducer - Richard Morris Production Co-ordinator - Jodie CharmanA BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.

Frank & guests Laura Smyth, Sunil Patel, Simon Evans & Kyrah Gray discuss googling, goggling, groping, gropping and the correct way to punch yourself in the face.This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day - shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the bafflingEveryone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter TelloucheDevised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David TylerA Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4

Fresh from his appearance on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, actor Stephen Mangan finds himself in the kind of trouble where the Bible, the Complete Works of Shakespeare, and his luxury item will be no help whatsoever.From Bill Dare (Dead Ringers), Jon Holmes (The Skewer) and writers Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock, actor Stephen Mangan washes up on the actual island from Desert Island Discs, only to discover that he is not alone.Living among the palms and rocky outcrops and thousands of copies of the Bible lying in the sand are every former guest of the show - and it’s all gone a bit Lord of the Flies.Through Stephen’s audio diary, we learn that all TV chef Nadiya Hussain wants to do is hunt, that Richard Madeley’s gone feral, and that Sandi Toksvig has the Conch. But there’s something lurking in the forest, and when Stephen suspects foul play in the power struggle to be chief, he soon finds himself making a dangerous enemy.Can he win over his fellow islanders before it’s too late? What lengths will he go to to

Nathan Blakely was a popstar. But he was useless, died, and was reincarnated. The comedy about Nathan’s adventures in the afterlife returns for a fourth and final series, starring Daniel Rigby, Ashley McGuire, Freya Parker and Henry Paker.In this first episode of the final trilogy, Nathan is brought back to life as a rat in a London sewer. As usual, Nathan has a mission to complete - this time he needs to save an abandoned terrapin who's lost in the sewers from the clutches of a disgruntled crocodile. And Nathan also has his own demons to battle - can he come to terms with the failed pop career he had as a human?Cast: Ashley McGuire - Carol Daniel Rigby – Nathan Henry Paker - Terry the Terrapin Freya Parker - Crocodile Tom Crowley - Music ManagerWriters: Tom Craine and Henry Paker Producer: Harriet Jaine Sound: Jerry Peal Music Composed by: Phil LepherdA Talkback production for BBC Radio 4

Comedian and Broadcaster Sunil Patel invites you to join him in his new get-rich-quick scheme by marrying an Heiress. In this episode, Sunil meets with a premium dating agency, learns how to conduct himself on a date with an etiquette coach and goes on a megadate.Written and Performed by Sunil Patel With Additional Material from Charlie Dinkin, Em Humble and Benjamin Sutton Featuring Helen Bauer Sound Design and Mix by Andy Goddard Produced by Laura Shaw and Benjamin SuttonA Daddy’s SuperYacht Production for BBC Radio 4

The internet's best comedy creators bring you a sketch show that features Colin from Portsmouth, Broken News, Sally In HR, and every Ed Sheeran song ever.Written and performed by Kylie Brakeman, The Exploding Heads, Rachel Fairburn, Matt Green, Rosie Holt, Charlene Kaye, Kelechi Okafor, Larry & Paul, Morton, Burke & Fry, The Squid, and Ed Night & Paddy Young.Recorded in London, Manchester, Dublin, Los Angeles, New York and Edinburgh.Edited by Rich Evans at Syncbox Post Produced by Ed MorrishA Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4

Sue Perkins challenges Tony Hawks, Ian Smith, Zoe Lyons and Charlotte Ritchie to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include Getting Butterflies, Bottling it, and a Desire for Revenge.Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls Sound Editor: Marc Willcox Producer: Rajiv Karia An EcoAudio certified production.A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.