Advertisement
Music

Christmas No 1 hopeful Jason Manford hits back at Scrooges panning his record

Will he be top of the pops this Christmas? The Salford-born comedian responds to reviews of his own album on Twitter as we rate this year’s biggest-selling Christmas contenders

While telly titans Shane Richie and Nick Knowles exchange insults amid the battle for Christmas No 1, comedian Jason Manford is taking a slightly different approach to his critics.

The 36-year-old stand-up turned musical theatre star released A Different Stage in October which includes a rendition of The Impossible Dream from broadway hit Man of La Mancha and Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The album release received mixed reviews on social media, with some taking to Twitter to address their disdain. But in true comedic fashion Manford didn’t let the critics off easy.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Will Manford stuff the opposition like a turkey or be tossed aside like a soggy sprout? We reviewed the Christmas cracker in this week’s Big Issue.

Jason Manford

A Different Stage

What is it? Salford-born comedian out to prove that show tunes are no laughing matter

Stand out tracks: Stars, On the Street Where You Live

One-line review: No odds, but comes with Ball & Boe’s blessing: “He’s got chops!”

Mr and Mr Christmas, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe – who grabbed the Christmas album crown in 2016 – chat being Together Again this year. Catch their full interview and see how Manford fares compared to other festive celebrity releases – Sheridan Smith, Alexander Armstrong, Anton Du Beke and of course, Richie and Knowles and their new feud – in this week’s Big Issue.

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

Read All
Laura Mvula: 'I don't know if I'd be a singer without my family'
Laura Mvula recording her rendition of Paul Simon's 'I Know What I Know' for John Lewis. Image: John Lewis
Music

Laura Mvula: 'I don't know if I'd be a singer without my family'

Reverend and the Makers release Samaritans charity single: 'You don't have to be on your own at Christmas’
Jon McClure from Reverend and the Makers
Music

Reverend and the Makers release Samaritans charity single: 'You don't have to be on your own at Christmas’

New Order's Transmissions podcast digs up wild new stories of the band – and I'm mad for it
New Order in 1989
Music

New Order's Transmissions podcast digs up wild new stories of the band – and I'm mad for it

Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie: 'I had a young family – children and hard drugs don’t mix'
Bobby Gillespie
Letter To My Younger Self

Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie: 'I had a young family – children and hard drugs don’t mix'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue