Preview: Upstart Crow, episode 2

It's great to report that the first episode of Upstart Crow was not a fluke. Writer Ben Elton repeats the trick again in the second episode. In fact if there is a problem here it isn't so much that this week's episode is like Blackadder, it's more a case that it is too much like last week's episode.

Ben Elton's Upstart Crow seems stuck in the 1980s, or 1970s, with its embarrassing canned laughter (if it's actually a studio audience, then it deserves to be confined to a can) and eagerness to please.

David Mitchell portrays a more modern William Shakespeare, who is struggling to make a name for himself - not helped by an uncaring world, and family. The Ricky Gervais mickey take character (Kempe - Spencer Jones) is faintly amusing, but Elton crams in far too many words - many of them, sadly, pathetically juvenile.

Upstart Crow review

Gadzooks! After some high-profile flops in both hemispheres, Ben Elton has rediscovered his mojo... and all it took was a return trip to Elizabethan England.

Preview: Upstart Crow

Never mind Leicester winning the league, what odds would you have got on Ben Elton being funny again? But hold the front page: Elton has got his mojo back. Well, everything is relative. After his appalling The Wright Way it looked like the acclaimed comic might never make us laugh again. But he has done it with Upstart Crow, which, let's not mince words, is Blackadder Does The Bard.

Comedian of the month #27, Spencer Jones

Spencer Jones is certainly a performer that takes some getting used to. Appearing as his character The Herbert, a strange and spritely figure with bright clothes and hunched shoulders, Jones approaches the medium of stand up comedy in a way I haven't quite seen before, throwing out customary communication norms with little regard for them.

Comedy gigs of the year 2015

Featuring Rob Delaney, Tommy Tiernan, Frankie Boyle, Daniel Kitson, Sam Simmons, Bill Bailey, Stewart Lee, Weird Al Yankovic, Richard Gadd and Spencer Jones.

Best comedy of 2015

Praise for Mel Brooks, Sam Simmons, Katherine Ryan, Joseph Morpurgo and Spencer Jones, but Andrew Lawrence was turkey of the year.

Christmas interview with Spencer Jones

Spencer Jones was one of the breakout stars of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015 with a prop-based show that was pure gleeful joy from start to finish.

This is the stand-out of the lot, a heart-warming story based on a simple premise, some great gags, and the warmth of his performance. After a grinch steals Christmas - or, more accurately, the car containing all the presents and accoutrements for the big day - Spencer Jones stays up all night improvising gifts from what he could scavenge from the hardware shop at midnight. His character is basically 'best Dad ever', inventive, playful and prepared to do anything for his family - an optimism that rubs up against his sourpuss sister-in-law. A perfect combination of laugh-out-loud moments, including the final punchline, and a genuine feelgood spirit. More please!

This week's new live comedy

Previews of Spencer Jones, Kevin Eldon and Andy Hamilton.