Radio 1: The Best of the ‘In New Music We Trust’ Stage at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Bangor with Nihal.  25/05/2010

Radio 1’s Big Weekend hit Bangor in North Wales last weekend, as I’m sure you all knew (unless you had been living in a cave for last two weeks; it dominated all Radio 1 coverage and even had trails all over the BBC). And in true festival fashion, Radio 1 continues to relive the live performances from the Big Weekend, for the benefit of the majority of us who did not get to go. The coverage throughout Radio 1 is certainly rich in content, and supplies us with a vast range of different performances and interviews from the weekend. This particular show, The Best of the ‘In New Music We Trust’ Stage, covers some of the extremely popular, although less celebrity-status, artists, such as the all equally brilliant Ellie Goulding, Vampire Weekend, You Me at Six, and Plan B. The show is very enjoyable to listen to because of the sheer variety within it, but only if you’re prepared to have the occasional screaming and clapping over the top of your favourite songs! And if you missed it, not to worry, they are playing a different ‘Best of’ for each stage every night at 9pm this week.

Radio 7: Whose Line is it Anyway?26/05/2010

This week’s episode of Whose Line is it Anyway, hosted by Clive Anderson, has a wonderful mixture of comedians taking part, including Stephen Fry, Rory Bremner and Jon Glover. For those of you who have never seen or heard ‘Whose Line’, it is a game-show style improvisation sketch show, whereby Clive Anderson proposes a number of games in which the guests must make up sketches and situations on the spot. Although many would choose to watch it on television rather than listen to it, I would definitely recommend this if you prefer witty, well- written comedy, rather than comedians using stupid facial expressions to get laughs. In this episode, some of the highlights include a ‘DIY rap’ and an improvisational sketch including ‘James Bond and a driving test’. Although there is a certain ‘middle-class-comedy’ air about it, the quick thinking and comic timing of the comedians is quite spectacular and certainly makes a good half an hour’s listening. It is a favourite on Radio 4, and is constantly repeated on Radio 7, if you ever want to give it a listen.