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Stewart Lee will play London's Union Chapel on July 6. The comedian headlines the venue with support from Phil Nichol, Josie Long, Pete Firman and Elis James Mc.

[L: Stewart Lee, R: Josie Long] > Stewart Lee interview The show is part of the 2013 spring season of Live at the Chapel, produced and promoted by The Invisible Dot. Other headliners for the season include Adam Buxton, the Pajama Men, Mark Thomas and Kevin Eldon. Tickets are available now and are priced at £18 or £16 for concessions. The full spring season 2013 dates for Live at the Chapel are (more)...

The story behind the making of the film and the religious storm it caused are the subject of Holy Flying Circus

As Brian Cohen, the hapless hero of Monty Python's Life of Brian, finds out, it can be tricky stepping into the shoes of someone worshipped by all. And the fear of not passing muster is on the minds of all six actors cast as Pythons for a BBC comedy drama about the release of the film in 1979.

Holy Flying Circus will tell the story of the making of Life of Brian and the righteous fury that surrounded the release of its satirical take on the gospels. It is the first attempt to dramatise the activities of the sextet who transformed the nature of comedy in this country and produced a British film now critically regarded as one of the very best.

Coming together this summer to play Michael Palin,...

The Lord of Twitter is set to become to Lord of Everything, with the tweeted news this morning that Stephen Fry is to play God is the forthcoming BBC drama about the excessive ecclesiastical response to the 1979 film Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

We reported earlier in the week that the film had been cast and now it seems filming is already underway for the scheduled transmission on BBC4 in Autumn.

Fry, as God (who curiously is the only character to appear in all of the Python films), will be playing alongside Darren Boyd (John Cleese), Charles Edwards (Michael Palin), Steve Punt (Eric Idle), Rufus Jones and Phil Nichol as Terrys Jones and Gilliam respectively and Tom Fisher plays the late Graham Chapman.

This morning Mr. Fry tweeted,

Then tweeted a lovely picture of himself in the make up chair, which was live for a few moments before the following appeared…...

Have pity on Darren Boyd, Charles Edwards, Steve Punt, Rufus Jones, Phil Nichol and Tom Fisher. For to these six men falls the unenviable task of portraying the six members of Monty Python's Flying Circus in upcoming BBC production Holy Flying Circus.Written by The Thick Of It and In The Loop co-writer Tony Roche with Owen Harris (Misfits, Secret Diary Of A Call Girl) directing, Holy Flying Circus will be a dramatic re-telling of the controversy surrounding the theatrical release of the Python's 1979 feature film The Life Of Brian. Though Brian - which I personally believe is far and away the best thing the Pythons ever did - was a big success on release the nature of the story - which revolves around...

Monty Python’s 1979 film Life of Brian was a masterpiece of surreal and satirical comedy, and always places high when the various Best British Film of All Time polls are announced.

On release its controversial subject matter inevitably ruffled a great many ecclesiastical feathers and was banned in some places in the UK, a ban rumoured to have been upheld in Swansea until 1997.

The documentary The Secret Life of Brian charts the film’s development (from Eric Idle’s glb response to the question of what the Pythons were working on next – he quipped: Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory!) to the famous showdown on the BBC debate programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning. There Pythons John Cleese and Michael Palin were berated by the highly regarded broadcaster Malcolm Muggeridge and the Bishop of Southwark, the Right Reverend Mervyn Stockwood, for their film which they considered as blasphemous.

Now the BBC are...

Holy Flying Circus to focus on comedians' struggle with church, councils and critics in runup to release of controversial film

"He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy" is one of the most oft-quoted lines in British comedy history. But the religious controversy that engulfed the Monty Python film in which the quote featured, Life of Brian, on its 1979 release was no laughing matter – and is now to be the subject of a BBC drama.

Holy Flying Circus, written by Tony Roche, a co-writer of the political satire The Thick of It, will air this autumn on BBC4 and aims to use the Life of Brian controversy to explore the subject of free speech.

Monty Python's irreverent take on the story of Jesus Christ revolved around Brian Cohen, a reluctant fictional Messiah in first century Judea who is eventually crucified. Church leaders in the Us and the UK protested,...

Just for Laughs, a comedy festival, has announced its line-up for the segment Zoofest Comedy. It will feature 11 shows running from July 12 to 18th.

Those who attend to the Zoofest Comedy should expect to see:Patrice Oneal who will present his new show Mr. P where he finally admits that he may have been wrong about "some shit in life" - like white people and women are not all bad.Jim Jefferies will be back with his second solo show at the Festival Alcoholocaust.Donald Glover, one of the stars of NBC's Community, will present his new show Gross.Phil Nichol will take on the stage Katacombes to present A Deadpan Poet Sings Quiet Songs Quietly, his follow-up to Nearly Gay and The Naked Racist.Bo Burnham, a YouTube star, will be present at the Theatre Ste-Catherine will present Words, Words, Words, where he’ll perform songs, stand-up, haikus, and a bunch of other stuff.