The News Quiz (Radio 4, Friday), Britain's longest-running series in this genre, is also the lead offender in terms of bad topical comedy. Worn smooth by nearly 40 years of regular airtime, it is now as cosy and predictable as pie and mash; to my knowledge it hasn't caused a sharp intake of breath since 2011, when the host, Sandi Toksvig, made a pun about a four-letter-word.

Listening to the current - 86th - series, I've become convinced that if technicians programmed a computer with a wide-ranging set of News Quiz input-output rules ("Middle East peace talks = joke about Tony Blair"; "Education cuts = ironic reference to Eton," etc) and fed it the week's current affairs, they could accurately predict the show's scripts.

The only curveball in this week's edition was that regular panellist Jeremy Hardy had been asked to chair, as Toksvig was off sick. This seemingly humourless move had been singled out as a rich source of in-joke material by the writers. "I am the host this week because Sandi has been suspended for biting the producer's knees when her pre-show herring was not chilled to the correct temperature," Hardy began (Toksvig is 4ft 11in and from Denmark). He later returned to the theme during a limp segment about genealogy: "everyone on this panel will have a little bit of Scandinavian in them; could everybody just make sure they haven't sat on Sandi?" Unsmiling, I added "ST absence = joke about smallness + Scandinavia" to the list.

Review: Jeremy Hardy at Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton

A committed socialist, Jeremy Hardy brought sharp wit and a sense of justice to his left wing comedy.

Jeremy Hardy's show ends in violence over loud laugh

Women removed by police after trading blows when one complains about fellow audience member's enthusiastic reaction to star of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue in Burton.

Jeremy Hardy: standing up for the art of live comedy

Jeremy Hardy has being doing stand up for more than 30 years, starting well before comedy became the 'new rock and roll'. But despite touring the length and breadth of the country, he's never been to Burton before - which is good news for Jeremy as he can use all his old jokes when he comes to The Brewhouse.

This week's new live comedy

Previews of Jeremy Hardy, the Chortle Comedy Book Festival and Andrew Lawrence.

Review: Jeremy Hardy

Struggling with a heavy cold Jeremy Hardy still managed - between bouts of coughing - to cast his wry eye and caustic wit over current events and society's foibles.

The 80s comedy club where heckling became an art form

What's left of the old Mitre Arms sits on a grim, grey stretch of the A102, within gobbing distance of the Blackwall Tunnel. It looks like the sort of pub where you'd get bottled if you looked at someone in a funny way. So it's hard to believe that in the late 80s this place helped launch the careers of a generation of alternative comedians including Harry Enfield, Vic Reeves, Jenny Eclair, Jerry Sadowitz, Jeremy Hardy and Jo Brand.

Radio Times review

I cannot offer an insight into the content of this returning series because it is recorded just two days before broadcast, but I have no qualms in recommending it to anyone who enjoys a fearless deconstruction of what lies behind social mores and accepted views on politics. Jeremy Hardy has yet to have his fighting spirit dampened.

Glastonbury 2014: 10 questions for Jeremy Hardy

The comedian says he's having a much better festival than he did in 1985.

News: Balham comedy festival line-up announced

The 2014 Balham Comedy Festival, running from July 11-19, has announced its line-up. Among the names confirmed are Susan Calman, Paul Daniels, Robert Newman, Phill Jupitus, Reginald D. Hunter, Tim Vine, Stephen K Amos, Marcus Brigstocke, Milton Jones, Shappi Khorsandi, Mark Steel, Richard Herring, Jeremy Hardy, Susan Calman, Kevin Day, Gary Delaney, Kerry Godliman, Tony Law, and Fred MacAulay with more performers to be announced.