BCG Daily Friday 24th October 2014

Review: An evening with Noel Fielding

The first half was the funnier but also a little messy, a mixture of stand-up that strives (at times a bit too hard) for the strange, while laying down the beginning of an overarching plot. Part two - based around the idea that Noel has been kidnapped - shows that he is more than capable of making the most of audience interaction, before wrapping things up with a slice of hipster pantomime.

Radio Times review

Occasionally you have to wonder at WILTY?'s booking process. I mean, if you were searching for a quick-witted guest with a sharp sense of humour, would you immediately come up with the name of bushcraft expert Ray Mears? In fact he acquits himself very well, especially considering he's sitting alongside fiercely comic guests such as Jo Brand. She comes up with a ridiculous story about hitch-hiking down to the coast on Christmas Day that could be the basis of a Tarantino film as well as one about squeezing through an ex-boyfriend's dog flap. Both will make you cry with laughter.

Once again the best exchanges are between the peerless Lee Mack and David Mitchell. Carried away with his tale about a fox (illustrated beautifully by Rob Brydon doing an impersonation of Basil Brush), Lee says something that David pounces on with almost Poirot-like powers of deduction. It's very impressive.

Make the most of tonight's edition as WILTY? is taking a break for a few weeks.

Radio Times review

Lee is the kind of man who, when he's in a hole, doesn't stop digging, he just goes on to plough another hole, and then another one, and then another one...

He's almost buried alive in tonight's comedy of errors as he unwittingly manages to get himself and Lucy (Sally Bretton) invited to a christening party by the baby's very reluctant parents.

TV dad par excellence Hugh Outnumbered Dennis is the baby's father, a picture of quiet exasperation as Lee (Lee Mack) and Lucy's doomed attempts to buy a suitable present for his son spiral into madness.

It's all tremendously silly and contrived, of course, to an almost palm-sweating level, but Mack, Bretton and Katy Wix as dim Daisy keep it bobbing along.

Radio Times review

Sue Perkins appears to be taking this edition incredibly seriously, frowning as she unpicks the brainteasers and listening intently to Stephen Fry's elucidations as if she was the classroom swot thirsty for every drop of knowledge. That is until he poses the question how did Chicago get screwed up, to which she flippantly replies: "They put Catherine Zeta-Jones in it."

The lavatorial round may send you running towards the smallest room because the explanation is so nauseating even the panellists shriek in horror. But stick around for the quantum levitation demonstration. It's childishly and joyously brilliant. Josh Widdicombe's right when he says: "That would be the best Christmas present in the world!"

Radio Times review

By my count, Miranda Hart has been on Graham Norton's show five times before, so if she has any self-deprecating anecdotes about awkward slapstick moments that she hasn't already shared, she will roll them out tonight. She shares the sofa with Timothy Spall, whose latest performance is as painter JMW Turner in Mike Leigh's biopic. Maroon 5 provide the music.

Seann Walsh interview

At the age of 28, life has changed for comedian Seann Walsh since moving in with his girlfriend.

Sally-Anne Hayward: That joke isn't funny anymore

Sally-Anne Hayward loves being asked what it's like to be a woman in comedy. Really. Loves it. So go ahead and ask her. Just don't forget to duck before the punchline.

7 Wonders: Zoe Lyons

Zoe Lyons puts some coin in the Standard Issue jukebox to share her favourite songs.

Radio Ha Ha

Ever fancied writing comedy for the wireless? Give Gabby Hutchinson Crouch a Jelly Baby and she'll tell you how.

Interview: rarely asked questions - Ivo Graham

Ivo Graham might as well have "future star" written through him like "Blackpool" through a stick of rock purchased in a famous seaside resort in the north-west.

Emily Atack on the Dad's Army film set

She was best known for playing the sexy school girl all of The Inbetweeners' boys wanted to stare it. But on Thursday, Emily Atack was cutting a pin up image of a whole new calibre when she donned full costume on the set of the Hollywood adaptation of iconic BBC sitcom Dad's Army.

This week's new live comedy

Previews of John Shuttleworth, Dapper Laughs and Noel Fielding.

Punchlines: comics getting beaten up

Yesterday, someone drew my attention to a copy of The Stage dated 26th April 1990. One article was headlined: "ARTISTS FEAR HECKLERS' REVENGE" and started: "Alarmed entertainers fear violence from rowdy club audiences may be on the increase after a series of ugly scenes which have put artists at risk on stage."

21 times we realised we were definitely Mark

The real beauty of Peep Show is the way in which it gradually teaches you more about yourself. Specifically, that you are a socially uncomfortable, neurotic Mark of this world, rather than a feckless, senselessly optimistic Jeremy.

David Hasselhoff on new Dave sitcom

"It's a fun and wacky show," he told Digital Spy. "I want to say it's The Kumars meets Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Lee Mack live review

It's a brave stand-up comedian whose encore is to invite questions from a crowd that has been, up until now, notably restless.

Britain, don't put your faith in Russell Brand

The comedian's excitable appearance on Newsnight this week betrayed the incoherence of his political views.

Meet the contestants: Heat Seven - London, 2014

Here's some more information about the comedians performing in the seventh heat.