John Bishop

Jerry Seinfeld has been named as the world’s highest-earning comedian in the last year, making the bulk of his money through his legendary TV series which ended nearly two decades ago.

As reported in the annual list published by Forbes, the top ten of which doesn’t include a single woman, the 61 year old comic made $36 million between June 1st 2014 and the same date in 2015. With a total net worth of more than $800 million, he continues to sell out stand-up tours throughout the world, despite his highly-rates series ‘Seinfeld’ ending back in 1998.

Jerry Seinfeld earned more than any other comedian in the world this year

Continue reading: Jerry Seinfeld Tops Forbes List Of Highest Earning Comedians

Miranda Hart is without doubt the most popular British female comedian of the minute, and with the recent season finale of her successful BBC sitcom, Hart is to begin work on writing material for a huge arena tour in 2014. Comedians have an uneasy relationship with huge emotionless hangars, but the likes of Peter Kay, Lee Evans and John Bishop have proven it CAN work.

Miranda has performed sketches and stand-up on the live circuit before, but the success of her TV series means her forthcoming show 'My, What I Call, Live Show' will take in far larger venues, including London's O2 arena. So what can we expect from the tour? The promotional bumf offers, "The award winning Queen of Comedy is on stage doing stand-up for the first time since her hit series Miranda aired on the BBC. Grab a chance to see Miranda's laugh out loud genius live. She wants you to join her party. Expect galloping, attempts at song and dance, and simply - such fun!"

Though there were initial reservations about whether Hart could fill a 15,000 capacity, ticket-buyers quickly allayed any fears. In fact, following Monday night's season three finale of her sitcom, Miranda has announced a handful of extra dates at London's O2 Arena, Manchester Arena, Liverpool Echo Arena, Sheffield Motorpoint Arena, Birmingham's NIA and the new Leeds Arena.   

Continue reading: As Her Sitcom Reaches Finale, Miranda Hart Eyes Arena Tour: Can It Work?

The Justice Collective - featuring stars like Robbie Williams, Shane MacGowan and Paul McCartney – are amongst the favourites to get to number one in the UK this Christmas. Over the last few years. the Christmas Number One has been a little unpredictable, what with a recent campaign to get Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing In the Name Of’ to number one thus preventing the usual X Factor winner Number One for the years that had preceded it.

Everyone loves to support a good cause at Christmas and the Justice Collective’s cover of The Hollies’ ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ will raise money for to help the families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, with their legal fees. The single was launched at Liverpool’s HMV store, by the former footballer Kenny Dalglish and the comedian John Bishop. According to the Halifax Courier, the Justice Collective currently have best odds of 2/7 to get a Christmas number one, whereas James Arthur – this year’s X Factor winner – has odds of 5/1 in second place. Gareth Malone's Military Wives’ Choir are in third place at 20/1, which would make it their second Christmas number one in a row if they manage to land the top spot.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, there has been a call from the stars of the Justice Collective, as well as Kenny Dalglish, John Bishop and Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. “I wrote to the Chancellor George Osborne before X Factor and we haven't yet had a formal response from him. We tried to get hold of the Treasury yesterday and we are still hopeful that he will waive the VAT on our single. It's the right thing for the Government to do,” said the MP.

The Hillsborough single, released to raise money for the families of Liverpool fans who lost their life during the tragic Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 football fans lost their lives during a FA Cup semi-final match at the Sheffield stadium, has had it's full line-up released, featuring a fair share of star power.

The single, a cover of the 1969 Hollies track 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother,' will be released on December 17th and is already hotly tipped to take this year's Christmas Number One spot. The full line-up is to feature Liverpudlian Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Mick Jones, X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson, Spice Girl Mel C, Gerry Marsden, Paloma Faith, Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook, Beady Eye's Chris Sharrock, Hollie Cook, Jon McClure, Eliza Doolittle, Beverley Knight, Liverpool FC legend Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool MP Steve Rotheram, Liverpool-born comic John Bishop and members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Lawson, the Farm, the Zutons, the Beautiful South and Cast.

Families of the victims have already been given a listen to the charity single, which will raise funds for the ongoing legal costs as the victim's families seek retribution from the Government and police, who had covered up the truth about the disaster until earlier this year. Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, commended McCartney for lending his name to the project and spoke of how her son, one of the 96, was listening to the song shortly before he passed on. She said, "I thought, maybe he's handing me this new version and saying 'listen to this'."