Comedy of the Week

An audience show in which Colin explores how his bizarre family made him the man he is today. Now, as a 45 year-old dad, he wonders if it’s too late to do anything about it. Based on his hugely successful 2024 Edinburgh show, Colin weaves anecdotes and musings with all too real stories about his early life, featuring a recurring cast of characters: his perennially pessimistic mum, his not-quite-in-reality brothers and his long-suffering Dad who screams ‘why can’t we just be a normal family?’ Colin asks “is it a surprise my neurodiversity was missed?' But growing up in Nottingham we just had a simple phrase that covered everything - ‘he’s not right’. Colin paints a picture of a childhood full of secrets and lies, dominated by Mum’s terror of ending up in the local ‘madhouse’ whilst espousing paranoid conspiracies and pulling out the Ouija board on Christmas Day. Whilst inherently funny, the craziness is recounted with love and sympathy. A brilliant storyteller, Colin intercuts tales of that childhood life with stories about his own contemporary family and how one has been shaped by the other. What does he want to pass on and what does he absolutely not want to? How does he be the best dad he can when his basic understanding of the world is so scrambled? Each episode begins with Colin telling us how he’s, possibly inappropriately, reacted to something mundane that has just happened or been said to him. He’ll unpick the story across the episode tracing his reaction back to his upbringing with other themes, stories and observations along the way. Colin’s stand-up is intercut with childhood and contemporary scenes. Colin plays all his family members, neighbours, distant relatives, postmen, etc.

Join comedian Russell Kane as he and his guests spill the beans on spiders. Consistently ranked amongst the most creepy and crawly, we ask are spiders abusive arachnids or kooky cuties?
Helping Russell decide whether spiders are evil or genius are top comedian Josh Jones and leading entomologist & England Manager for Buglife, Dr. Karim Vahed.
To hear more from this series, search "Evil Genius" on BBC Sounds.
Additional material by: Eve Delaney, Ruth Huskisson & Christina Riggs
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Sound Recordist: Gareth Wood
Digital Editor: Jerry Peal
Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Producer: Simon Nicholls
Evil Animals with Russell Kane is a BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds.

A Match Made Inshallah is a fearless, funny show where the 44-year-old, twice-divorced stand-up comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri is looking for love and ready to date - and she wants us all to be her wingman.
Mixing stand-up, commentary, and the actual date itself, we will hear Fatiha’s deepest thoughts, hopes, dreams, and judgements as we join her every step of the way through the dating minefield.
Written and Performed by Fatiha El-Ghorri
Producer: Laura Grimshaw
Executive Producers: Jon Holmes and Carrie Rose
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4

In this Stand-up Special Finlay Christie makes his Radio 4 debut in front of a live audience at The Brunswick in Brighton.
He provides insight into how he and his generation have grown into the adults they’re now expected to be. Using new and existing material from his critically acclaimed Edinburgh shows he’ll cover topics like; the expectations of different generations; “pensioners complaining they can’t heat their house. That sounds like a boast – You’ve got a house?!’ ...”
- the differences between the generations; “People say young people are more sensitive, but every generation is sensitive, we’re just sensitive about different stuff. We’re sensitive about pronouns, old people are sensitive about Princess Diana.”
- how his generation feel about the world; "Gen Z are very nihilistic. World’s gonna end in our lifetimes and we don’t care. One girl in Sweden cared and that made the news.”
“TikTok has made me see people who watch films as intellectuals. Ooh, you have a penchant for cinéma?? Ohohoho.”
And how it now feels to be a man; “ the difference between Man and Boy - "Landlord bad…. rent boy..nice….” " “It’s a boy” - “congratulations”. “It’s a man” - “allegations.”
At 19, Finlay became one of the youngest ever winners of the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny competition, following in the footsteps of Peter Kay, Lee Mack and Sarah Millican. 3 years later, his debut Edinburgh show “OK Zoomer” was nominated for NextUp’s “Best Show” award and was released as a special in October 2023. His material, based around his experience as a Gen Z, led Chortle to describe him as “the voice of his generation.”
Producer: Julian Mayers

Despite a complex childhood, and with her teenage years spent guiding the career of her controversial comedian mother Janey Godley whilst caring for her depressed autistic father, Ashley has just had the most surreal, dramatic, tragic… and successful year of her life.
Her dream job was always in the magical world of TV with all its escapism, justice and happy endings. But the universe has a twisted sense of humour, and just as Ashley finally gets her big break, Janey is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Yay.
In this episode, we jump inside the brilliant and unhinged autistic brain of our “adult perma-child” protagonist and attempt to unspool this tragicomedy with some hilarious digressions en route.
Produced by Julia Sutherland
Sound Design by Sean Kerwin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4