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Julian Hall
Julian Hall is the comedy critic for The Independent, a role he has held since 2003. Previously, he spent two years writing for, and eventually editing, the paper's "Pandora" gossip column. As comedy critic he has reviewed most of the major figures in comedy (including Eddie Izzard, Ricky Gervais and Chris Rock) either at the Edinburgh Festival or on national tours. Julian has been on the judging panel for the Chortle Comedy Awards three times and for the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Award twice. He was also a member of the judging panel for the if.comedy awards (formerly The Perrier Awards) in Edinburgh in 2007 and in 2008. Julian’s book, Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy' was published in October 2006.
Julian's online portfolio can be found on: jnhfreelancearchive.blogspot.com
Julian's online portfolio can be found on: jnhfreelancearchive.blogspot.com
The British Comedy Awards are back on our screens this weekend (Sat 6 Dec, ITV1) and back on track after its hiatus last year when - although the jamboree was filmed - it stayed in the can because of irregularities with the phone voting system the previous year.
It is more or less written in the contract of the awards that they must create controversy, and this year Comedy Xmas came early with the Brand/Ross panto. With Wossy finding himself otherwise suspended, Angus Deayton stepped into the breach as host and so the circle of scandal remains unbroken. All is set for funny business as usual.
Unfortunately, after attending for the last two years (down to luck and the discretion of a certain PR I now realise), I will have to forego my goody bag and my gallery seat this year as Cinders is not going to the ball.
This is despite the fact that I am a comedy critic (and thus have a role to play in highlighting emerging comedy talent), that I am (once again) writing for The British Comedy Awards magazine and that I was hoping to cover the event for this website and thereby raising the profile of an event that almost looked dead in the water after last year's phone poll kerfuffle.
Unfortunately, despite all these claims, I have received the same treatment that Norman Lamont once did at the hands of Julian Clary, as detailed in Clary's infamous joke at the 1993 ceremony.
I know, I know, boo hoo comedy critic turned away by awards ceremony. I mean it's not as if the producers rang my mobile and left lewd phone messages. Although, after my umpteenth communication I did receive a reply - IN CAPITAL LETTERS - from the big cheese, referring me back to the ITV press office who I had already contacted to no avail.
It is bad enough not inviting contributors to its own magazine but not inviting comedy critics to the awards means that the industry is failing to acknowledge the role that we play in scoping out comedy talent. Critics are only part of the deal, of course, but when was he last time you saw a poster of the next big comic that wasn't splashed with endorsements from the broadsheet press? Albeit they are often doctored and really, really, out of date.
This is not about an inflated sense of my own importance - all of the comedy critics deserve endorsement from this event. The fact that we aren't and are kept in a box marked 'do not open til the Edinburgh Fringe Festival' shows a breaking of the industry link that sees live talent make it big on screen and a kind of blanket amnesia about the live circuit from which they came.
I wish the awards well. They have provided great moments. Some more sublime that scatological such as last year when Stephen Fry accepted his Lifetime Achievement award by satellite from the US and said that “comedy is the shortest distance between experience and truth.” A great quote that was left unaired because of the phone vote scandal.
Televised or not The Comedy Awards are great fun and there are some great people nominated (I am particularly looking out for nominees Isy Suttie, Simon Bird and Michael McIntyre – see the full list below). I shall be wishing them well from the comfort of my armchair this year – oh as well as a bit of background barracking of the organisers Wossy style, of course.
Best TV Comedy Actor of 2008
David Mitchell – Peep Show (Objective for Channel 4)
James Corden – Gavin & Stacey (Baby Cow for BBC Three)
Ricky Gervais – Extras: Christmas Special (BBC Comedy for BBC One)
Best TV Comedy Actress of 2008
Ashley Jensen – Extras: Christmas Special (BBC Comedy for BBC One)
Olivia Colman – Peep Show (Objective for Channel 4)
Sharon Horgan – Pulling (Silver River for BBC Three)
Best Comedy Entertainment Personality of 2008
Alan Carr – Friday Night Project/Sunday Night Project (Princess Productions for Channel 4)
Ant & Dec – I’m a Celebrity .. Get Me Out of Here/Saturday Night Takeaway/Britain’s Got Talent (ITV Productions for ITV1/ITV Productions & Gallowgate for ITV1/SYCO Television & TalkBack Thames for ITV1)
Graham Norton – The Graham Norton Show (So Television for BBC Two)
Harry Hill – Harry Hill’s TV Burp (Avalon Television for ITV1)
Best New British TV Comedy of 2008
The Kevin Bishop Show (Objective for Channel 4)
No Heroics (Tiger Aspect for ITV2)
The Inbetweeners (Bwark for E4)
Best TV Comedy of 2008
Benidorm (Tiger Aspect for ITV1)
Gavin & Stacey (Baby Cow for BBC Three)
Peep Show (Objective for Channel 4)
Best TV Comedy Drama of 2008
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Hat Trick for BBC Three)
Mutual Friends (Hat Trick for BBC One)
Skins (Company Pictures for E4)
Best Comedy Entertainment Programme of 2008
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (Hotsauce TV for BBC One)
Harry Hill’s TV Burp (Avalon Television for ITV1)
The Sunday Night Project (Princess Productions for Channel 4)
Best Live Stand-Up Performer of 2008
Alan Carr
Michael McIntyre
Russell Brand
Best Male Comedy Newcomer of 2008
Dan Clark – How Not To Live Your Life (Brown Eyed Boy for BBC Three)
Simon Bird – The Inbetweeners (Bwark for E4)
Steve Edge – The Cup (Hartswood Films for BBC Two)
Best Female Comedy Newcomer of 2008
Anna Crilly – Lead Balloon (Open Mike for BBC Two)
Isy Suttie – Peep Show (Objective for Channel 4)
Katy Brand – Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show (World’s End for ITV2)
Best Comedy Panel Show of 2008
Have I Got News for You (Hat Trick for BBC One)
Never Mind the Buzzcocks (TalkBack Thames for BBC Two)
QI (TalkBack Thames for BBC Two)
