Entertainment

If I might go out on a limb, there is a bit of wisdom learned through observation that I think the comedian and author Sara Pascoe and I hold in common as both truth and strategy. It is, if you want an audience to take you seriously make them laugh first. A decent framework of comedy is not to be confused with the forced smiles and gargled cough-laughs that greet your company's CEO at the Region Meeting when he hauls...

‘With a Cherry on Top’ is the first music video to surface from Sneaks’ new album It’s a Myth. It stars Sneaks mastermind Eva Moolchan as she alternates between sweet and sinister, writing in her diary and clutching a baseball bat. It's squishy and weird and cool. Check it out below. Director Alessandra Hoshor had this to say about the song and video: “Sneaks’ ‘With a Cherry on Top’ is full of tension, a suspended moment between physical experience and...

A photographer has released a book featuring pictures he took of more than 100 naked woman in his local area - to try and improve their body image. Snapper Jojo found 108 females willing to shed their clothes for his project. He has now published all the images in his third book: Naked Truth: Plymouth Unveiled accompanied by the women's thoughts on their own bodies. Jojo, 52, who lives in Plymouth, Devon, said all the women involved are from his...

Iron & Wine will release Beast Epic, his first new material in over four years, on 25th August via Sub Pop. The new LP features eleven new compositions that share a certain kinship with his earlier material. The video for lead track “Call It Dreaming,” is also out in the world right now. Watch it below: Iron & Wine’s principal songwriter Sam Beam had this to say of the album: “I must confess that I’ve always shied away from album introductions...

By Hubert O'Hearn and Bianca Da Silva This Belfast Book Festival has proven so far to be an absolute joy, with the only debate being what has been the most thought-provoking: Is it the discussions and readings in the various workshops, or the spontaneous chats in the Crescent Arts Centre happening over coffee? Writers in their unique and splendid way are rather like zoo animals that one hears of escaping from captivity, gamboling through cities with literal unbounded glee. Release...

NYC's Charly Bliss have announced their first UK dates following on from the release of their critically acclaimed debut album, Guppy. The album will get a physical release in the UK on September 8th ahead of their live dates here. The band have also released a music video for "Westermarck,", a stand out - complete with infectious, immediate chorus - from Guppy. Billboard, who premiered the video, are saying it "captures summer camp in all its nostalgic, carefree glory." Guppy has been receiving significant attention in the States,...

Perth’s POND are heading to UK shores after a triumphant Coachella performance and US tour. They bring their tour to the UK for a string of dates, including their largest UK headline show to date at London’s O2 Forum on June 16th - this Friday. The tour comes after the release of their acclaimed new record The Weather, which has further cemented POND’s place among the forefront of Australia’s music scene. A daring exploration of modern day contradictions, filtered through kaleidoscopic pool...

As it turns out, the starving artist stereotype is not too far off. According to the 2011 National Household Survey and Labor Force Survey, the average income among Canadian artists is $27,600. Compared with an average of $45,400 for the overall labour force, this is a difference of 39%, a significant departure.   Fortunately, for the majority of artists who are unable to land stable positions, the internet offers some hope. With the universal availability of the internet and the...

Hubert O'Hearn with Bianca da Silva We were somewhere around Belfast on the edge of the Mourne Mountains when the rains began to take hold. I remember saying something like "We'll still be on time ; absolutely you should drive..." And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge, bowler-hatted DUP drummers, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an...