Alan Davies

Alan Davies: Television, stand-up and me

Comedian Alan Davies, a judge on ITV's Show Me the Funny, says televised stand-up has come a long way from the strange regional shows he used to appear on. But has it lost anything along the way?

Alan Davies gives the lowdown on stand-up comedy

With the launch of ITV1's new comedy talent show Show Me The Funny, Alan Davies talks to James Kettle about stand-up.

Cultural life: Alan Davies, comedian

A look at Alan Davies's cultural tastes.

Pretty soon, it seems, the only primetime programmes on ITV1 will be talent shows, celebrity challenges and soaps, with occasional dramas and news bulletins grudgingly thrown in to keep the regulators happy. This latest X Factor wannabe focuses on comedy, with host Jason Manford - no mean comedian himself - going out on the road with a gaggle (or should that be a giggle?) of ambitious stand-ups who feel certain they could be the next big thing in British comedy. From fresh-faced newbies to never-quite-made-it pros, the top 10 contestants have their ability to get audiences rolling in the aisles put to the test over six weeks, in which they tour the country to perform for a variety of tough crowds (hospital patients, squaddies, secondary school pupils and rugby players, among others). They'll also take on a range of other mirth-inducing challenges, each episode culminating with the judges - regulars Alan Davies and comedy critic Kate Copstick, plus guests including such well-known comics as Jo Brand, Johnny Vegas and Ross Noble - deciding who's made the cut. The final is a live show at the Hammersmith Apollo for a prize that's certainly not to be laughed at: £100,000 cash, a nationwide tour and a DVD.

Tonight, the contestants are in Liverpool, where they'll perform a gig in front of an all-female audience; the guest judge is Liverpudlian Jimmy Tarbuck.

Stand-up shows are over edited claims Alan Davies

The comedian Alan Davies claims shows like Live At The Apollo are sanitising the experience of watching stand-up comics.

Alan Davies not amused by 'shoddy' treatment by BBC

Alan Davies, the star of Jonathan Creek, speaks out after the BBC failed to tell him face-to-face that it was dropping his sitcom.

Bring Back Whites campaign gathering steam

Full disclosure upfront. I have only seen two episodes from the first (and only) season of the BBC situation comedy, Whites, starring Alan Davies as an executive chef at a country house hotel that has "past his sell-by date". That said, I feel qualified to comment on the current "Bring Back Whites" campaign as this is a show that I have been tracking since it went in to production.

Whites to begin on ABC1

New British comedy Whites follows the trials and tribulations of head chef Roland White (actor and comedian Alan Davies) and his long-suffering sous chef Bib (Darren Boyd) at a country house hotel.

Leading up to the British Comedy Awards, Comic's Choice invited five celebrated comedians - Alan Davies, Sean Lock, Jo Brand, Jessica Hynes, Lee Mack - to choose a shortlist and winner from among their own personal past favourites. Bill Bailey played affable host, something he does effortlessly.

Forgetting for one moment the universally acknowledged truth that no comic truly enjoys any laughter they haven't themselves produced, the show's premise was flimsy in the extreme. Not to mention confusing - Alan Davies nominated Chris Morris as Best Breakthrough Act for work done in 1994.

Davies also took part in a film recreation of an unsuccessful audition he once attended, as gratuitous a piece of padding as I have seen in a long time. This lack of coherence was reflected in the meaningless studio set design which threw together leather armchairs, old boilers, stuffed elk heads and bicycles combined to create the effect of a gentleman's club located in a garage.

Basically Comic's Choice was yet another excuse to disinter old archive clips instead of producing fresh comedy. Although, having said that, the archive clips were rather excellent, so I'm not complaining too loudly.