Catherine Tate review

There were some familiar faces on stage for the Catherine Tate Live show - but the person everyone wanted to hear was Tate herself. So some of the biggest laughs were at moments when Tate fluffed her lines in character, and came out as herself - to the delight of the audience.

Catherine Tate, comedy review

Tate proves she is a true comedy chameleon.

Comedy review: Catherine Tate at the Eventim Apollo, W6

The best moments of the sketch comic's show are those that would not work as well on television. Even so, most of the routines go on too long.

Catherine Tate Show Live review

While the characters themselves are funny, big punchlines can be something of a problem, and rather too many skits end on a needlessly brutal line just to get them finished.

Comedy review: Catherine Tate

Without television's snappy cutting, the show as a whole lacks strong punchlines to close sketches and the cast endure long, twirling dances to distract from this as they get off stage.

Review: Catherine Tate

It's only the second time she's performed this show and she forgets her lines a few times but recovers brilliantly and has the audience fully on side.

Catherine Tate's live show - review

There's no doubt that Tate is a talented, expressive performer with an observant eye. Her use of the familiar is the reason her characters resonate with so many people (as any sullen teenage girl who's had her parents turn and laugh at her while watching Lauren Cooper will attest). But her overuse of line repetition from the TV show's regular sketches can leave the jokes themselves lacking at times.

The finest comedy of autumn 2016

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Very British Problems - very funny!

This summer I am on the lookout for funny shows to help balance the rest of my responsibilities. At the same time, I have expanding my viewing options by looking into programs from abroad. I have recently run across the perfect mix of the two in Very British Problems.

The new series of Very British Problems began this week but seems to have lost its purpose. The show began life as a very witty, observant Twitter account which would blurt out panicked and appalled little tweets about the difficulties of being a repressed British person who's trying frantically to avoid embarrassment in a world full of boors and idiots.

The humour lay in not knowing who was sending the tweets and so we could imagine it was an uptight Englishman in a suit and bowler hat, catching the 8.09 to Waterloo, perhaps resembling a stern-faced John Cleese. Or maybe it's a kindly old lady who makes jam for the Women's Institute and crochets bootees for the church jumble sale, and is quietly horrified at the manners of today's young people. We could imagine what we liked, or slot ourselves into the situations described. But transferring the concept from Twitter to TV has ruined that. Our imaginary and oh-so-typical Brit has been replaced by celebrities. James Corden, Catherine Tate and David Tennant now share their awkward moments and social embarrassments, and there is no longer room for us. We've become observers not awkward, agonised participants.

We all love Christmas but wouldn't like it every day - contrary to what the song says. The luxury of all that food, wine and excitement would soon wear off and leave us longing for an uneventful day at work or a quiet potter around the supermarket. We can only take so much wonder and joy - and that must be the reason why Charlie Brooker is relatively rare on TV.

If I was in charge, he'd be on TV constantly. BBC News 24 would be Brooker 24 and watching would be mandatory. But, as with too much turkey and Prosecco, maybe we'd soon start to groan and wilt: no more, please. I'm full! I can't take another joke. I'm woozy with these witty observations. Another gag will make me gag.