Simon Bird stars in Tom Basden's Crocodile

Casting has been announced for Tom Basden's new play The Crocodile. Inbetweeners star Simon Bird will appear alongside Ciarán Owens and Marek Larwood in the production, which centres on a self-important actor (Owens) who gets swallowed by a crocodile during a trip to the zoo with his best friend (Bird).

This prank show was one of a series of online pilots for BBC Three, which I reviewed for a previous Gigglebox column.

Out of all of the pilots that BBC Three had to offer earlier in the year, this was deemed to be so successful that it needed a series almost immediately (after all, prank shows are cheap to make, especially in these financially tight times). I was glad, because out of all of them this one was the most surprising, in the sense that it's a prank show that's actually good.

The premise is that four comedians, Joel Dommet, Roisin Conaty, Paul McCaffrey and Marek Larwood, are each given a series of challenges. As one comic performs in front of hidden cameras, the other three force them to do humiliating things in front of their unsuspecting audience. The comedian who fails to do as they're told the most is forced to do a final forfeit at the end of the show. Great stuff.

The show's so successful, of course, because of the people involved. They're all professional comedians. In most prank shows, it's just members of the public who are all unwittingly doing something stupid. In Impractical Jokers however, all four performers know how to get the most from the situations and get those extra laughs. It can be as simple as constantly saying "peek-a-boo" while washing someone's hair, to pretending you're remembering something by tapping your nose on a customer's knee.

If I were to have any complaints about the series it would be with the cartoonish opening sequence and animation that they use, which is too annoying for my liking. Other than that it's a hit.

The hidden camera show is given a cruel twist in Impractical Jokers, awarded a full run here after a pilot earlier in the year. Here the stooge thrown out into the general public is forced to perform increasingly embarrassing acts of humiliation at the hands of the other performers in the show, who gleefully order fellow cast members to do the unspeakable through an earpiece while watching them squirm on a monitor. Joel Dommett, Roisin Conaty, Paul McCaffrey and Marek Larwood are the victims/perpetrators.

In this new series on Radio 4, comic ranter Andrew Lawrence explores different social themes - from their impact in the modern world and throughout the rest of history - alongside fellow comedians Marek Larwood and Sara Pascoe.

In the opening episode, Lawrence looked at the subject of diet and food in his usual style; Lawrence's delivery is highly enjoyable if you can get into it. For some, it might be a bit too rapid-fire, but if you can keep up with the pace it does often pay off in big laughs.

Lawrence also cleverly avoids falling into the trap that many "ranters" fall into, which is that he avoids coming across as too angry. Some comedians often like to build up to a massive rage, but with his more deadpan approach Lawrence's commentary is a lot more subtle than most.

For those who do find the delivery too speedy for them, luckily the show is broken up with sketches and songs. The songs in question were something of a highlight in the programme, my personal favourite being Lawrence's guide to rickets. In the end, a good opening episode.

Going solo: an interview with Marek Larwood

"In Klang I played an idiot, partly because when you work with someone who's 6"8 you have to play low status." Marek Larwood talks to Emma McAlpine about his first solo show Typecast.

Roll up, roll up, let's save the planet - Marek Larwood

Super yet typecast comedian, actor and one time We Are Klanger Marek Larwood explains how you can save the world, just by going to see his show. Yes, really.

Marek Larwood's Fringe show examines own history

Erstwhile member of anarchic sketch trio We Are Klang goes solo.

The dark truth behind my journey to the Fringe (Part 1)

It's that time of year, over half way to Christmas. To distract yourself you can go to the Edinburgh Festival (in Edinburgh), where you can go and watch people talking in rooms.

This new studio-based sitcom pilot from Channel 4 starring Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller is best described as a decent effort, but probably not worth returning to.

While the fact that it has a live audience would be enough to make most reviewers vomit in disgust, for me the main problem with this Edwardian sitcom is that it pales into insignificance following the BBC's showing of The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff last week.

Like the latter, Felix & Murdo uses silliness and satire as a focal point for its humour - my favourite moment was the cash machine operated by a young boy inside it - but it just wasn't as good as The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff. Of course, The Bleak Old Shop... has had a lot of practice - what with it first starting off on radio - and if it's given a full series it may improve, but I doubt it.

On the plus side, it was good to see Marek Larwood playing a straighter role than normal. It would be nice to see him continue in straighter acting as well as his more humorous and bonkers roles.

For those unaware, Sorry, I've Got No Head is a sketch show broadcast on the CBBC Channel.

Despite this being a children's show, it's surprising in many ways. For starters, there is quite a lot of good comic talent involved. Amongst those starring in the show include Marek Larwood, Justin Edwards, James Bachman, Marcus Brigstocke, Mel Giedroyc, Nick Mohammed, David Armand and Graham Norton in a voice-over.

The sketches include Jasmine and Prudith, a pair of eccentric posh women who believe everything costs a thousand pounds; Ross the schoolboy from the Outer Hebrides whose school has been badly damaged in a storm and is thus he is the only one who attends; the easily-scared Fearless Vikings; and The Witchfinder General who accuses anyone of being a witch if he doesn't get his own way.

Another interesting thing about Sorry, I've Got No Head is that it has no laughter track. Most TV sketch shows tend to have one, and you would expect a children's sketch show to do so as well, but this doesn't.

In a way the show treats the audience a bit more like adults than many other sketch comedies. The laughter track provokes you into laughing, which might explain why shows such as That Mitchell and Webb Look and The Armstrong and Miller Show have them, to encourage the viewers to laugh along and keep watching. Sorry, I've Got No Head doesn't see the need for one. Perhaps it's because this show is less of a risk as it's on a digital channel for children.

Sorry, I've Got No Head is quite a diverting show, which in its own way is entertaining for people of all ages. And if you're bit a embarrassed about watching it with other people, you can always look at it on the iPlayer as if it were a guilty pleasure.