Although the transition from comedy club to Comedy Central isn't anything new in the world of stand-up comedy, it seems that the number of comedians presenting shows on our small screens is growing by the week. Ryan Duggins has this to say about the topic...

The act of showcasing the talents of live comedy performers to a wider audience through television has always been a positive thing for all concerned, but as TV Execs' demand for stand-up comedians builds, that could start to change. Stand-up comedians are sloping into a world where 'water' and 'shed' are joined to make a phrase.

Although we would never deny, or even slightly raise an eyebrow, to anyone looking to make an extra pound, the constant addition of stand-ups to the prime-time roster of the major channels is becoming overwhelming. The medium is changing. The stage spotlight is no longer a device to aid vision, but a teleporting laser beam that could transport any comedian to the TV screen at any moment. Live performers know this, which only makes it worse.

The altering of ones act in aid of commercial success is not something new in comedy, as performers almost constantly have to adapt and adhere to the requirements that will ensure greater success... which is fine. The problem is, the attitudes towards what success constitutes are starting to change considerably, and although this will be denied by many a performer, dreams of performing at Wembley are being substituted by studio spotlights, careful camera direction, watered down humour and banal autocue links.

Of course, who could blame them. I am sure when Alan Carr was offered the Chatty Man gig for Channel 4, the reasons were solely rooted in his talents as an entertainer, but it is success stories like his that begin to dilute the comedy circuit, whilst also destroying the role of 'TV presenter'. Acts are no longer just thinking about making people laugh, but are adding 'marketability' and 'mainstream appeal' to the concoction, which can be disastrous to the art of live comedy.

Jason Manford getting comfy on The One Show sofa, Michael McIntyre gearing up to cast judgement behind a red button on Britain's Got Talent, Dara O'Briain suiting up for The Apprentice You're Fired, Russell Kane fronting BBC Three lifestyle shows - the list of comedians adding 'presenter' to their CV is growing. Sarah Millican too, going from performing seat-wetting gags at live shows to having to listen to the horrendous squawks of 'But why do men do that?' from Carol Mcgiffin and Coleen Nolan on ITV's Loose Women. You could say that, apart from Frankie Boyle, the faces you see in the DVD Chart of HMV are also the faces of mass-market television. Can you ever imagine Paddy McGuiness not now being in the presence of 20 women, all of them screaming 'take me out'?

Although comics are no strangers to branching out into different areas (straight acting, writing etc), are we getting to the point where being funny is what propels you to the top of the list to host a channel's flagship entertainment show, over actual presenting ability? Michael Parkinson was never booed off at The Gilded Balloon; but as the audience for which these moves are being made for, is it not our own fault? TV is a numbers game, so should we be blaming ourselves for championing these performers through our own remote control, and are we not in a vicious cycle where enjoying a comedy showcase leads to an avalanche of live performers appearing in our living rooms?

"TV's current obsession with comedians is just getting ridiculous." proclaims leading TV correspondent and Sunday Express journalist, Sandro Monetti. "Now everyone who ever did an open mic spot seems to be getting fast tracked to peak time programming. I've no problem with the best stand-ups getting to use TV as a showcase for their talents. But the trouble is our airwaves are now flooded with too many mediocre performers as well, and that is not anything to laugh about."

And what happens when audiences get bored of stand-up? Or desensitised by the amount there is on TV? And what happens when the need to see the local acts is already being catered for through the TV? We are edging closer to the moment when people just stop coming to comedy clubs, and instead sit at home and watch the latest showcase of talent, whilst eating snacks in their living room.

Comedy is not like any other medium. The success of a young footballer, graduating through the youth academy to the first team has a positive effect on the whole club. Fellow players aspire to his development, his addition aids the team's play and, one day, his departure may make the club a lot of money. But comedy doesn't work like that. Live comedy can't be used as a scouting pool for future TV talents. If TV executives continue to dip into the pool and transform great live performers into television performers, the pool will not only be empty, but hopeless.