Review: Hairspray
Laurie Scarth takes the leading role The fat lady sang, but the show was far from over. Nor was the fat lady a fat lady. Michael Starke - Sinbad the window cleaner in Channel 4's Liverpool soap Brookside for 16 years - steals this stage musical version of John Waters's 1988 film as the hilarious pantomime dame, Edna Turnblad. His duet with Les Dennis on an empty stage provides the highlight in this otherwise full-on production. The two of them croon Timeless To Me, with Starke as the roly-poly...

Phill Jupitus 'almost quit Buzzcocks'
Phill Jupitus has revealed that he almost quit Never Mind The Buzzcocks . Speaking to The Guardian , the comedian explained that he was unhappy with the way former host Simon Amstell treated some of the guests. "It struck me with Simon that people were being booked especially to have the p*ss taken out of them in a very overt Fashion," he said. "[Amstell's predecessor] Mark [Lamarr] didn't book people to rag on them, it was just in the flow of the show that people suddenly went a bit weird and...

Phill Jupitus reveals Lesley Douglas feud
Phill Jupitus has revealed that he fell out with former BBC 6 Music controller Lesley Douglas before he left the station in 2007. The comedian told The Guardian that he received a phone call from Douglas while he was complaining on air about an Internet campaign skewing a listener poll of the greatest duets. Jupitus said: "I started whining about this on air and getting crosser and crosser and then my mobile went and it was Lesley Douglas. "She said, 'If you want to destroy 6 Music keep doing...

Phill Jupitus almost quit Buzzcocks because of Simon Amstell
Entry tags: British celebrities Phill Jupitus almost quit Buzzcocks because of Simon Amstell Phill Jupitus, who has been a team captain on BBC Two's music-based comedy panel show Never Mind The Buzzcocks since its Inception in 1996, has revealed he almost quit the show in 2008 due to former host Simon Amstell's verbal attacks on guests. Speaking to The Guardian about his new book , the comedian said he considered leaving the show because he was unhappy with the direction it was taking...

Click to download: Spotify's banter economy
With a breezy "Hello, Spotify people", Phill Jupitus added a new string to the streaming service's bow last week. Those were the opening words of the comedian/DJ's first programme for Playdio.com , a new site that is bringing full radio shows to Spotify. They're doing it by uploading DJs' spoken-word links to Spotify in the same way they would songs, then making playlists of the talking and music in the right order. By piggybacking on to Spotify's legal service, that avoids the irksome issue...