Chortle

Sales not enough for five-day extravaganza A major five-day comedy and music festival on the King’s Sandringham Estate has been axed amid poor ticket sales. Organisers HeritageLive say they cannot compete with bigger operators and said it would have been ‘irresponsible’ to go ahead without being sure they could pay their bills.

...from the comedy section, at least Comedians only get a very limited number of words to promote their shows in the official Edinburgh Fringe programme, with the title counting towards the tally. So you'd think they would be super-efficient in keeping the language tight, right? Well not these mavericks.... A work in progress, whose status tips the title into 17 words.

'Button Hall' opens up for fans to stay overnight Ghosts fans can now have a sleepover in the fictional haunted house where the BBC comedy is set. West Horsley Place in Surrey is opening its doors for a series of events to mark the release of the sitcom’s big-screen spin-off  The Possession of Button House on October 23. For £135, visitors will ‘have exclusive access to explore this iconic filming setting in a whole new light’, say organisers.

Raising money for the town's hospice Peter Kay is adding four more shows at The Albert Halls in Bolton, after all four of his original hometown dates were snapped up as soon as tickets went on sale. The extra performances, in January, will again be reserved for local residents, with tickets available only to people with a Bolton (BL) postcode. Profits from every show go to Bolton Hospice. It comes after he played four gigs at the same venue last week.

Before she was shamed over her Epstein links Alan Carr was reportedly planning a travelogue TV show wit Sarah Ferguson before the full extent of her links to Jeffrey Epstein were made public. The comedian was among the last visitors to Royal Lodge before she and her ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were turfed out earlier this year, The Mail on Sunday reports. There they are said to have ‘actively discussed’ the plant to make a televised road trip to unusual  locations in the US.

The best of the week's comedy on TV, radio and streaming Our pick of the comedy on TV, radio and streaming this week. THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT: The classic Alec Guinness comedy about an altruistic scientist who invents a material resistant to stains and damage gets an airing.

The week's best live comedy The best of the week’s live comedy, picked from the thousands of  events Chortle currently has listed. Use our search panel to check our full listings by date and region. YORK:  The Museum Gardens are hosting a big outdoor comedy festival from 2.30pm with an unmissable line-up that includes Russell Howard,  Ross Noble, Russell Kane,  Suzi Ruffell and many more.

Vs Nigel Farage and Count Binface' Could the  Clacton by-election get any more ridiculous? Only with the addition of Liz Truss to the ballot paper… or rather the entirely unrelated ‘Liv Struss’, the comedy alter-ego of Nerine Skinner. Could the short-lived PM provide the political ballast to stand up to the mighty Count Binface? Or even the joke candidate Nigel Farage? Published: 12 Jul 2026

Ronni Ancona's name isn't as glamorous as it sounds... Ronni Ancona’s surname might sound glamorous to British ears  – but it’s not quite the same in Italy. ‘Everyone here goes "that’s exotic",’ the comedian and EastEnders actress told the Table for Four podcast, in comments picked up by The Times diary column. ‘But Ancona is a smelly fish port with a bad football team on the Adriatic.’ ‘It’s like being called Ronni Grimsby, so most Italians you say it to, they usually go: "Ancona.

Circle of Life composer had sued Learnmore Jonasi A judge has officially thrown out a $27million  (£20million) lawsuit brought against a comedian for mocking the Circle Of Life song from The Lion King. Composer Lebo Morake had sued stand-up Learnmore Jonasi for joking that the line ‘Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba’ in the Zulu chant which opens the number translates as: ‘Look, there’s a lion.