A tight 5: March 3

CORNISH comedian Jethro has joined UKIP. 'There's nothing democratic about the European Union and we need to take back control of our own country,' he told the Cornish Guardian. 'We must tackle immigration as a matter of urgency – our infrastructure in Cornwall just isn't equipped to handle immigration on its present scale.'

BILL HICKS has been the subject of an Early Day Motion in the commons. Labour MP Stephen Pound last week proposed: ‘That this House notes with deep sadness the twentieth anniversary of the death of Bill Hicks, on 26 February 2014; and salutes a man who used comedy as a weapon to assault the pomposity, arrogance and crass materialism of his age and whose every recorded and written word is a reminder of how brightly his genius burned, how dark is the world without that scorching light and how much his uncompromising honesty will be forever missed.’ It attracted  nine signatures - one more than a similar motion Pound tabled a decade ago.

BBC Scotland has launched an initiative to help new comedy writers. Room To Write will work with between 10 and 20 of the most promising writers who submit sketches after attending one of a number of workshops in May, with feedback from comedy producers and writers such as Jack Docherty and Susan Calman. Full details here.

TOM KEEFE, a maths and computer science undergraduate at York university, has won a place in the semi-final of the Chortle Student Comedy Award – on only his second gig. The 22-year-old triumphed at the heat in Newcastle last night. Next stop for the competition, sponsored by ALCATEL ONE TOUCH and Universal Pictures (UK) is the University Of South Wales Treforest Campus tomorrow. Here is some of his set:

COMEDY promoter Hazel O'Keefe has been named as a finalist in this year's International Women's Day Awards run by Manchester City Council. O'Keefe, who set up the Laughing Cows all-female clubs in 1998, has been nominated in the culture and art category, and the winner will be announced on Friday.

Published: 3 Mar 2014