Review: Joe Wilkinson, Jarlath Regan, Paul McCaffrey

The only thing the three acts had in common was the same management. It was all pretty normal until Wilkinson appeared.

Audio: Is comedy a science or an art?

How do comedians come up with funny lines? Is it a science or an art? "Quite often I work backwards from the punch line", Tim Vine recently told the Today Programme. But other comedians work differently. Paul McCaffrey admitted he picks out what he thinks is funny and then works it into a point at which he thinks the audience will laugh. "The trick is to try and make it look as spontaneous as possible. You want the audience to believe that this is something that you're saying and thinking for the first time there and then," he added. Stand-up comedian, actor and writer Tiff Stevenson hones her act in a similar way, explaining that "I work at how I feel about something and then I find the funny within that."

Five questions for Paul McCaffrey

Anecdotal stand-up and star of BBC Three's Impractical Jokers Paul McCaffrey brings his new stand up hour, Paul or Nothing, to Assembly at George Square Gardens. He chats to Giggle Beats about life at the festival and his new show.

Interview: Paul McCaffrey

Paul McCaffrey has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting new acts around, winning both The London Paper and the Latitude Festival new act competitions in 2009. In 2011 Paul took his debut solo stand-up show, Saying Something Stupid to the Underbelly, to great critical acclaim, having previously appeared as part of The Big Value Comedy Show and the AAA Stand-Up Show at The Pleasance.

The Paul McCaffrey three minute interview

Paul McCaffrey has established himself very quickly, winning both The London Paper and the Latitude Festival new act competitions in 2009. In 2011 Paul took his debut solo stand-up show, Saying Something Stupid to the Underbelly, to great critical acclaim. He returns in 2014 with Paul or Nothing.

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.

Interview: Paul McCaffrey

An up and coming act who has seems to be right on the pulse of the comedy circuit in the UK right now. His Underbelly show is one not to miss and your bound to become as huge a fan of him as we are. More information about Paul's show can be found at the end of his interview.

10 questions with Paul McCaffrey

Paul McCaffrey returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with his second hour this year - and it's already garnered him a four-star review from Chortle. But what are his top Edinburgh tips - and memories? Check out his answers to our 10 Quick Questions...

Interview: Paul McCaffrey

Paul McCaffrey returns to Edinburgh with his tales of trying to reclaim his youth...