The besuited funnyman's stand-up showcase returns. McIntyre himself divides opinion - he seems to be almost as unpopular with critics as he is beloved by audiences - but there's no doubting his infectious energy as he hauls his sparkly set around six large theatre venues. The tour begins at Glasgow Theatre Royal, where our host is joined by teen prodigy Daniel Sloss, hairy Canadian Craig Campbell, punning surrealist Milton Jones and headline act Kevin Bridges, a fast-rising raconteur who'll be cheered in his home town.

Michael McIntyre bounds on stage, newly svelte and very natty in a purple suit. He doesn't look like the most polarising figure in British comedy. Polarising in the sense that mass audiences adore him, while other, less successful comics marinate in resentment whenever his name is mentioned. Fine, yes, McIntyre is very safe (though he says "s**t" twice, to my horror - it's like hearing your favourite auntie swear), but the observational stuff is fun. It may be obvious, but there you go, that's observation for you. Anyway, I like him, and the Glasgow audience at the first of a new run of Roadshows is in his pocket immediately as he tells cute stories about his two small children, revolving doors at airports and trampolines in gardens. None of it will start any revolutions, but who needs that on a Saturday night? He's not Bill Hicks. McIntyre is wildly enthusiastic about the night's acts, including local boy Kevin Bridges, garrulous Canadian Craig Campbell and Radio 4 favourite Milton Jones, whose punning, literal schtick makes my teeth itch with annoyance.

Perfectly timed to ward off those back-to-school blues, the ever-popular topical panel show returns after a summer holiday. Tonight's guests are Thick of It star Chris Addison, Andi Osho - both fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe - and Milton Jones, who does a fine line in ludicrous puns. Unlikely to let them get a gag in edgeways are regulars Hugh Dennis, Russell Howard and Andy Parsons, while host Dara O'Briain dishes out points. Expect an impudent digest of the week's news, arbitrary scores and puerile one-liners aplenty.

Milton Jones: 'It's pressured on Mock The Week'

Mock The Week guest panellist Milton Jones has admitted that he finds it hard to interrupt other comics on the programme.

Milton Jones: Interview

The former Perrier winner chats about cracking jokes in church, why he's fallen out of love with Edinburgh and what happened when he came face-to-face with Jeremy Clarkson...

Frankie Boyle's been lanced, Russell Howard's wearing specs, but it's otherwise business as usual for satirical news quiz Mock The Week; a fusion of Have I Got News For You? and Whose Line Is It Anyway?, with irrelevant scoring and a weird mix of rounds that go from sitdown quiz to stand-up performances. It's all a mere conduit for ribpoking of the week's news stories, and MTW is perhaps more consistent than its contemporaries because four of the pannelists are regulars.

The downside of that consistency is that Hugh Dennis stopped being funny in the mid-'90s and Andy Parsons has never been funny, leaving host Dara O'Briain and Russell Howard to shoulder most of the comic burden. And, like a great many modern panel shows, a lot of guests just become glorified audience members, desperate to shoehorn in paraphrased segments of their standup material. This week, Mark Watson coped well as a guest (he's a veteran of this format), Patrick Kielty had the confidence to soldier through any difficulties he encountered, and while Milton Jones sometimes struggled to recycle his material appropriately, he at least didn't just sit back and do nothing. It helps that his stage persona is a spaced-out weirdo, so his weaker moments and slipups could be forgiven as part of his "act".

The top-notch panel show returns with guests Mark Watson, Patrick Kielty and Milton Jones - but how will it fare without the savage brilliance of Frankie Boyle?

Dara O'Briain presents a festive edition of the comedy panel show. The series's regulars - Hugh Dennis, Russell Howard, Andy Parsons and Frankie Boyle - offer their reflections on Christmas and review highlights from the series. There are also contributions from other nimble-witted comedians, including Fred Macaulay, Holly Walsh, Milton Jones and David Mitchell.

Milton Jones: Interview

With mad scientist hair and a healthy appetite for ridiculous jumpers, Milton Jones looks every part the comic on stage.

I have a soft spot for Milton Jones. His show is so silly, so warm and daft. Like Count Arthur Strong, Radio 4's best comedy series, Another Case of Milton Jones is miles from the clever-clever satire that Radio 4 is known for. It is its own surreal world, one through which Milton bumbles, spouting groan-aloud puns, irritating all around him while trying to do his best.

He's immensely quotable, chucking out one-liners like bread for the birds: a high-speed Jimmy Carr without the cruelty. 'I've heard great things about your spring collection,' he said last week (he was being a fashion photographer). 'When exactly did you start collecting springs?' Yes, I know - awful - but a funny image. The lines come so thick and fast that you crumble eventually. Actually, you find yourself trying to predict the punch line. Easy enough if the set-up is: 'After the show, I went for an Italian...' ('Well, he was just annoying me, sitting there looking so stylish.')

But only a strange and brilliant comic mind could come up with: 'It's difficult to know if you remember something or you remember the photograph of something. One of my earliest memories is of being in America, standing over an air vent and my skirt billowing right up.'