Aisling Bea

With a little liquid still left in that particular game show crossover sponge, here's another splash of word-wrangling whimsy from the Cats crew, with Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock and Jon Richardson joined by Reginald D. Hunter and British comedy award-winner Aisling Bea in search of those elusive eight-pointers. The lexicographical gold-panning is overseen, as ever, by Susie Dent, with assistance from Holly Walsh. As for which format to remix next, how about 8 Out of 10 Cats does The Crystal Maze?

This week's new live comedy

Previews of Aisling Bea, Jerry Sadowitz and the Slapstick Festival.

Radio Times review

"I'm quite surprised they've let me on as well," Frankie Boyle tells his audience before he insults the celebrity guests and makes tasteless jokes about Glasgow's view of Hepatitis B and Oscar Pistorius's future girlfriends. He counters this with "If you are offended by any jokes tonight, feel free to tweet your outrage on a mobile phone made by a 10-year-old in China." Boyle isn't to everyone's taste, but this crowd isn't affronted by anything.

Also on the bill are Aisling Bea (riffing on the joys of sitting down and doing nothing) and growly-voiced Simon Evans, whose witty Jack Dee-style take on life is delivered with the occasional smile. Or maybe grimace.

Radio Times review

Usually the QI panelists scrabble about improvising madly as they try to answer Stephen Fry's abstruse questions. Yet both Johnny Vegas and Jason Manford come up with a correct answer (and in Manford's case an impressively comprehensive one) almost immediately. Are the guests getting smarter or the questions easier? Aisling Bea and regular Alan Davies can't compete with such esoteric knowledge. In fact she almost gives up after hearing about a strange northern pursuit involving larded-up legs. "The more I get to know you, the more I think you men are mad," she states. Oh, and you'll never think of the word "sufficient" in the same way after Vegas's revelation.

Things you might not know about . . . Aisling Bea

Some lesser known facts about the Irish comedian.

Lined up for Gilded Balloon's new venue announced

Felicity Ward, Aisling Bea, Alfie Brown, Romesh Ranganathan and Stuart Goldsmith announced.

Latitude review: Aisling Bea

Aisling Bea is the victim of hate crime. Or so she feels, as an Irish woman having been booked to perform on an afternoon of twenty-something degree heat.

Comedy review: Happyness at Hoots

With Scottish parents of mixed religion who casually lied to him as a child for an easy life, the compere waggishly lamented his mildly dysfunctional upbringing as responsible for him becoming a comedian. Aisling Bea, similarly, painted a tragic picture of herself in the English capital, a hermit gorging on novelty chocolate, unable to interact socially without pawing at people like updates on her phone.

Machynlleth Comedy Festival 2014: Our picks

Previews of Elis James, Benjamin Partridge, Lloyd Langford, Mike Bubbins, Jordan Brookes, Arthur Smith, Aisling Bea, Robin Ince, Richard Herring and Nick Helm.