Alan Carr

Review: Alan Carr - The Yap Yap Yap Tour, Cheltenham

Sorry to those who loved him but I didn't think he was all that funny.

Alan Carr review - Pure entertainment

Alan Carr's forte is setting himself up as the perennial fall guy. He is like a camp Lee Evans, the little man bemoaning life's vicissitudes then acting out mini-mimes to emphasise his punchline.

Murder in Successville is ridiculous. Each week it takes a real-life celebrity, and places them in the middle of a fictional murder mystery, which they must help to solve. Successville, where these crimes take place, is populated by celebrities doing ordinary jobs, only these "celebrities" are impressionists doing their versions of those celebrities doing ordinary jobs. It's part sketch show, part structured reality show and part quiz show. Its jokes are largely crude and scatological. Everyone is on the verge of laughter throughout.

In the opening episode, the celebrity stooge is Jamie Laing from Made in Chelsea. I've never seen Made in Chelsea, so he well could have been the impressionist's version of Jamie Laing, though a passing colleague saw him on my screen, confirmed it was the real Jamie Laing and declared him to be "the worst". Laing plays a rookie cop tasked with cracking the murder of Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli, who, in Successville, is a chef married to chief suspect Darcy Bussell. Neither are played by themselves. Local gangsters Alan Carr and Harry Styles are not themselves, either. Nor, disappointingly, is ballistics expert Taylor Swift actually played by Taylor Swift.

This is a very, very silly show. For the first half I was torn between feeling extremely pleased something so anarchic and daft had been commissioned by the BBC in the first place, and willing it to be just that little bit funnier, and less reliant on jokes about bumming. But eventually, it got me. Laing gamely plays along as he is directed towards increasingly absurd situations, such as interrogating Alan Carr's underworld "sister" Jimmy Carr, who communicates only in that seal-bark laugh.

If Laing really is a villain in Made in Chelsea, then Murder in Successville is a remarkable act of rehabilitation for him. He just can't stop giggling, and it's helplessly contagious. This is the same silly joy that comes from sitcom blooper reels, or performers corpsing during live comedy, or trying not to laugh when you're getting told off. It's not particularly sophisticated, but it is surprisingly charming, and perhaps some of those remaining BBC Three-on-TV viewers might have stumbled across it and been charmed by it, too.

Sarah Hadland: I want to do a Miranda film

Sarah Hadland recently hinted that she and Miranda Hart planned to reunite - and now she's revealed that their BBC One sitcom might be getting a big screen outing. "I'm hopeful that we will do a film," she told chat show host Alan Carr.

Review - Alan Carr: Yap, Yap, Yap

'I enjoyed that,' I overheard a woman saying on the way out. 'I just wish I could remember any of it.' That seems the perfect summary of the empty distraction Alan Carr offers.

Alan Carr interview

Famed for his big glasses, eccentric humour and popular TV chatshow, Alan Carr is about to hit the road once more.

Morrissey pulls out of appearing on Chatty Man

When Alan Carr scooped a rare TV interview with reclusive singer Morrissey it was a bit of coup for his Channel 4 Chatty Man show. But Alan was left devastated - and producers spitting feathers - when the one-time Smiths frontman pulled out hours before filming was set to begin.

The irrepressible Alan Carr returns for a 14th series of his charmingly goofy chat show tonight, in which his guests reveal just as much about themselves by the way they react to his Bombay mix and WKD-style of hospitality as from any of the comic's proper questions. On the sofa and partaking in Carr's eccentrically stocked drinks trolley will be The Voice judges - Will.i.am, Ricky Wilson, Tom Jones and the madcap Rita Ora - joined by Antonio Banderas and Danny Dyer. Ella Henderson provides the music.

Alan Carr reveals Bieber was rude to Carol Vorderman

When Carol Vorderman appeared on Alan Carr's New Year's Eve Specstacular three years ago, the then-17-year-old teen star Justin Bieber told his bodyguards to remove Carol from his sight.

This week's new live comedy

Previews of Birthday Girls, Romesh Ranganathan and Alan Carr.