In a two-part special as part of the BBC's long-running arts strand Imagine, Alan Yentob explores the world of stand-up comedy.
Speaking in depth to a range of stand-up's most successful names, from Jack Dee to Simon Amstell, Jim Davidson and some top American stars, he explores their backgrounds and influences, and their passion for making people laugh.
Yentob also jonis Eddie Izzard backstage as he prepares to perform the first solo stand-up show at the Hollywood Bowl, and explores how stand-up comedy evolves, and its transferral to other mediums.

从上世纪50年代开始，Vivian Maier就在工作之余用一台Rollei双反相机拍摄街景，直至2009年逝世，她一共留下了超过10万张胶片，完整记录下芝加哥、纽约和巴黎在过去40年中的变迁。
Vivian Maier的作品直到2007年才被人们发现，她的照片敏锐而直率地捕捉到人们所流露出的情感，城市化进程所带来的变化、不同宗教和文化群体的种种境遇，
也被她记录在胶片中。通过挖掘人们的集体记忆，Vivian Maier展现出生活中动人的一面，将再平凡不过的日常景象，转变为出色的生活纪实，
从某种意义上说，足以与William Klein、Cartier-Bresson这些当时最著名的街头摄影师比肩。
2007年在一场拍卖会上被电影制片人John Maloof拍得后重见天日，她遂被摄影界公认为是20世纪最伟大的摄影师之一。
值得一提的是，Vivian Maier生前才华横溢，却默默无闻做了40年保姆，去世后留下10万多张芝加哥街景和街头人像底片，
Vivian Maier的正式职业是一名保姆，她的所有拍摄都是在工作之外的业余时间里完成的，由于经济原因，绝大多数胶片都没有冲洗。
你不需要成为一名摄影师，一样可以成为一个出色的记录者。

With performances from Peter Capaldi, imagine... marks the 500th anniversary of Machiavelli's notorious book The Prince. Famous for lines like 'It is better to be feared than loved', The Prince has been a manual for tyrants from Napoleon to Stalin. But how relevant is The Prince today, and who are the 21st century Machiavellians? Alan Yentob talks to contributors including Colonel Tim Collins, who kept a copy of The Prince with him in Iraq; plus Hilary Devey, Alastair Campbell and Game of Thrones writer George RR Martin.

安塞姆·基弗(Anselm Kiefer)，1945年生于德国， 上世纪80年代“新表现主义”代表画家之一。70年代师从约瑟夫·博伊斯（德国），深受其影响。 纳粹主义的失败使得战后的德国更为迫切地需要重树民族的信心和历史的图像，新表现主义画家安塞姆·基弗在他的作品里渗透着对德意志的民族精神和浪漫主义传统的重新挖掘，其中既包含了对于历史的反思，也有对于日尔曼民粹主义式的光荣梦想的隐晦的召唤。安塞姆·基弗的作品经常以圣经、北欧神话、瓦格纳的音乐和对纳粹的解读为主题。他努力正视纳粹时期的焦躁及德国的历史、文化和神话，并且希望为德国理想主义疗伤，助其复兴。基弗的作品一再提及纳粹时期，然而，人们无法判断他对纳粹的真实态度。但是，不管他是批评还是同情纳粹，不可否认，他是一个伟大的艺术家，他的作品证明了这一点。 安塞姆·基弗的作品赋予德国的神话以历史的光芒，非但没有一国的狭隘，相反他对人类内在心灵层次的深刻揭示，如同对每个人做生物学上的解剖，在荒凉、阴霾世界中执着地自我追复。

After the huge success of recent shows in Venice, London and Paris, interest in Outsider Art has never been higher. But what exactly is it? How do we define it? And who are its gurus and leading lights? Alan Yentob explores this captivating, compelling and magical alternative art universe. Why in 2013 is Outsider Art finally being feted by the art establishment, and what took it so long? imagine... embarks on a worldwide journey to meet some visionary creators, and their equally obsessive collectors and enthusiasts.

To mark David Bowie's comeback album and a new exhibition at the V&A, Alan Yentob looks back at his legendary 1975 documentary, Cracked Actor. The film follows Bowie during the Diamond Dogs tour of 1974.
Alan Yentob says "I'd caught him at what was an intensely creative time, but it was also physically and emotionally gruelling. Our encounters tended to take place in hotel rooms in the early hours of the morning or in snatched conversations in the back of limousines. He was fragile and exhausted, but also prepared to open up and talk in a way he had never really done before."
Cracked Actor has become one of the classic rock documentaries of all time, remaining an enduring influence on generations of Bowie fans.

William Klein has lived many lives. One of the world's most influential photographers, he pioneered the art of street photography and created some of the most iconic fashion images of the 20th century. He also made over twenty films, including the first ever documentary about Muhammad Ali and a brilliant satire of the fashion world, Who Are You Polly Magoo?
With a major Tate Modern exhibition currently celebrating his work, imagine... spends time with William Klein to discover the irrepressible, charismatic personality behind a remarkable creative life.

Neurologist and writer Dr Oliver Sacks has made the study of the human brain his life's work. His many acclaimed books (including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings), are filled with the compelling stories of his patients. "Although I seem to talk about illness and damage and problems, my real theme is survival, how people manage to transcend often triumphantly," he says.
His latest book, Musicophila: Tales of Music and the Brain, explores the lives of ordinary people dealing with extraordinary neurological conditions and how music works in their minds in strange and surprising ways. Alan Yentob talks to the charmingly awkward and devoted physician about the miraculous power music has on the human brain and travels to meet some of his remarkable case studies.
In upstate New York, Alan encounters the inspirational Matt Giordano who has suffered from severe Tourette syndrome nearly all his life. It's a condition which made him violent as a child and has continued to overpower him with involuntary movements or tics. Kathy Giordano, Matt's mother says how, "he would come home from school and spin in a circle on the floor for around two hours at a time and he’d be crying 'Mummy, Mummy help me, help me', but if I tried to stop him he'd get angry at me because he needed to complete the tic". Amazingly Matt has found a way to stop his tics: by playing the drums. Now he leads a drumming workshop to help others with Tourettes.
Then there's Tony Cicoria, a respected orthopaedic surgeon who was struck by lightning in 1994 and suddenly developed an insatiable passion to play the piano. Before the accident he had no interest in classical music and or the piano. Afterwards his urge to play was obsessive. "For a long time I thought certainly that the only reason that I was allowed to live was because of the music." Alan meets Tony as he prepares for the first public performance of his The Lightning Sonata, inspired by the events which have changed his life.
Derek Paravicini is blind, autistic and needs round-the-clock care. He is also a musical savant whose astonishing talent leaves Alan speechless. He can listen to a complex piece of music just once, before playing it back faultlessly and has thrilled audiences around the world with his talent and musical skill.
These extraordinary people bring to life the pages of Sacks latest work.
This intimate film follows Alan Yentob as he investigates the amazing impact music can have on the human brain. Inquisitive to understand more he even offers himself up as a guinea pig and has an MRI scan to find out how his brain functions when listening to different types of music, which has some surprising results! Even neurologist, Professor Lawrence Parsons, who carried out the test is shocked by Alan's extreme neurological response to his favourite piece of music.
Oliver Sacks: Tales Of Music And The Brain, BBC One, 3rd June 2008, 10.35pm.

Nearly 30 years after her triumphant debut novel, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson returns with Alan Yentob to the scenes of her extraordinary childhood in Lancashire. She was adopted and brought up to be a missionary by the larger-than-life Mrs Winterson. But Jeanette followed a different path: she found literature, fell in love with a girl, and escaped to university.
Following her recent memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, Jeanette Winterson tells the story of her recent breakdown and suicide attempt, her quest to find her birth mother and how the power of books helped her to survive.

Tom Stoppard is perhaps the world’s leading, funniest and cleverest playwright. Ever since he hit the ground running in the 1960s with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, there has always been a streak of melancholy beneath the sparkling surface of his work. Now with his latest play, Leopoldstadt, he comes full circle and faces up to the pain and loss in his past. In this programme, he tells Alan Yentob his extraordinary story.