Channel 4's Comedy Gala

For this two-hour bonanza in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, Channel 4 recently assembled 24 of Britain's best comedians to perform in front of a live audience at the O2 arena in London. So - deep breath - Jack Dee, Andy Parsons, David Mitchell, Fonejacker, Jack Whitehall, Jo Brand, James Corden, Jason Manford, John Bishop, Kevin Bridges, Kevin Eldon, Lee Evans, Mark Watson, Michael McIntyre, Noel Fielding, Patrick Kielty, Rich Hall, Rob Brydon, Ruth Jones, Sean Lock, Catherine Tate and Shappi Khorsandi take turns on stage to make it the biggest live stand-up show in British history. If that's not enough for you, Alan Carr and Bill Bailey perform with Stomp and Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Johnny Depp provide additional sketches.

Channel 4 Comedy Gala at the O2 Arena, London SE10

It was billed as "the biggest live stand-up show in UK history". But although this show in aid of the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children featured 30-odd comics performing to 15,000 people, with more on video clips, in many ways it conformed to the usual rules of the charity gala. Some acts reminded you why they are stars (Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre, Jack Dee). Some were good enough to win a lot of new fans (Mark Watson, Kevin Bridges, Patrick Kielty, John Bishop, Rich Hall, Sean Lock). Some did their thing and did it well (Noel Fielding, Jo Brand). Barely anyone died a death. And, though the O2's 11pm curfew forestalled the usual overrun, cor, did Evans, the headliner, strike a chord when he imagined what we were thinking: "Pleeeeease, finish!"