Old-school stand-up show for his steaming service

Jim Davidson is hoping to revive the spirit of 1970s showcase The Comedians with a new TV show for his  Ustreme channel.

Old-school stand-ups such as Mick Miller, Roy Walker, Jimmy Jones, Clive Cooper, Bobby Davro and Duncan Norvelle – some of whom appeared in the  original line-up of long-running ITV hit  – for his show called Proper Comedians

Davidson, who is producer as well as host of the shows, said: ‘Comedy shouldn’t be about giving lectures to the audience. The world is mad and sad enough, and people just want to enjoy themselves and have a bloody good laugh.’

The live shows will be filmed at The Gaiety in Southsea, on November 23 and 24. Each comedian will perform 20-minute stand-up sets, with episodes then edited together to air on Ustreme in December.

The Comedians made stars of scores of stand-ups including Mike Reid, Russ Abbot, Frank Carson, Jim Bowen, Ken Goodwin and Stan Boardman.

Born out of the working man’s club circuit, it ran for 11 series between 1971 and 1992, spawned Christmas specials, a touring seaside show and a hit album. At its peak, it was watched by more than 15million people.

Tickets for Proper Comedians cost £27 and are available here. Ustreme – which recently acquired the rights to Roy Chubby Brown's back catalogue – costs £4.79 a month to subscribe

Published: 22 Sep 2022