comedy

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival sees hundreds of comedians performing thousands of sets over the course of a month. From all these hours and hours of stand-up, the funniest joke told at the Festival this year has been chosen. The comedian who took the ‘prestigious' prize this year is Canadian Stewart Francis (pictured above) for this joke:

A railway company has come up with an unusual way of improving their customer experience. Chiltern Railways have hired a top British sitcom writer to create comedy announcements that customers will hear on their trains. They then went one step further, by hiring TV comedian Tony Robinson to teach the staff how to deliver these new announcements.

Writer Richard Preddy, who wrote the series Green Wing, was hired by the company after research showed that commuters unsurprisingly found their journeys depressing. The new announcements will hopefully soon be putting smiles on commuters' faces on trains between London and Birmingham, as well as at London Marylebone Station. Preddy explained:

"We have all waited for a train or a bus into work as the rain pours down and bustled our way to a seat and I think comedy can help to alleviate that stress. It's important to note that we aren't trying to turn everyone into a comedian. Rather we are hoping to bring out a little more of the staff's personality and humour via their day-to-day announcements and help cheer up the commuters along the way."

As part of India Week we interviewed the brilliant comedian Inder Manocha about his heritage and how he got in to stand-up:

Tell us about your Indian and British heritage?

My parents are from India, although my mother's background is Iranian. I was born in London and have been to India once, to visit the Baha'i Lotus Temple in New Delhi. I have inherited more 'Indianness' than I probably realise. Even though I don't speak any of the languages, I feel very Indian sometimes: my views on family, the way I can express myself, my mannerisms. But I can also be very English.

What was it like being a student at Oxford University?

This was Oxford in the late 80s. I was one of very few ethnic minority students. In fact I was a bit exotic. I went back recently to do a show and it was very different. Oxford was fine but a bit of a museum. A very traditional approach to my course (I studied modern history). I did a few plays and loved that. That kept me going.

How did you get into the world of comedy and acting?