Andrew Lawrence (I)

For those who couldn't make it to Edinburgh for the feast of comedy served at the recent Fringe festival, here's the next best thing. Kevin Bridges, no mean comic himself, playing host to the first of two stand-up selections. Russell Kane, Seann Walsh and Jason Byrne are the biggest names but don't miss the chance to catch the deliciously downbeat Andrew Lawrence, an underrated talent who's been known to squeeze laughs out of euthanasia. You'll die laughing.

TV commissioners must breathe a sigh of relief when the Edinburgh Festival comes around, offering as it does an opportunity for cheap programming with mass appeal. This week offers two such easy wins. On Friday at 10pm, the ubiquitous Seann Walsh introduces the slightly edgier end of popular stand-up at in BBC Three's Late Night Comedy Spectacular, which showcases Tom Rosenthal and The Rubberbandits.

But two-parter Comedy Festival Live 2013 is a more mainstream affair, packed to the gills with familar faces from Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo et al: Jason Byrne, Russell Kane, Andrew Lawrence, Seann Walsh (again)... And all hosted by Kevin Bridges. At some point this televised stand-up bubble will burst. But not for a good while yet, it seems.

Opinion: In praise of Andrew Lawrence

To meet Andrew Lawrence is a total joy. He is a true gentleman, very unassuming and humble. He has a keen grasp of the workings of comedy and his analysis of the comedy scene is most insightful. People who met him on the night described him as quietly spoken and surprisingly quite shy.

Andrew Lawrence tones down his psychotic side

Andrew Lawrence is Coming to Get You is, surprisingly, a more gentle comedic performance.

In this new series on Radio 4, comic ranter Andrew Lawrence explores different social themes - from their impact in the modern world and throughout the rest of history - alongside fellow comedians Marek Larwood and Sara Pascoe.

In the opening episode, Lawrence looked at the subject of diet and food in his usual style; Lawrence's delivery is highly enjoyable if you can get into it. For some, it might be a bit too rapid-fire, but if you can keep up with the pace it does often pay off in big laughs.

Lawrence also cleverly avoids falling into the trap that many "ranters" fall into, which is that he avoids coming across as too angry. Some comedians often like to build up to a massive rage, but with his more deadpan approach Lawrence's commentary is a lot more subtle than most.

For those who do find the delivery too speedy for them, luckily the show is broken up with sketches and songs. The songs in question were something of a highlight in the programme, my personal favourite being Lawrence's guide to rickets. In the end, a good opening episode.

Comedian Andrew Lawrence is in his early 30s but he sounds like a malevolent child. His comedy is at its strongest when he is spitting venom at those who have wronged him in the past or random groups that have aroused his ire.

The subject for this opening show is the food we eat and a troubling memory of being the fat kid at school - almost impossible to believe if you have seen his rake-like physique - is the first trigger for a rant. From here on he takes no prisoners, with vegetarians, meat-eaters, supermarkets and middle-class food snobs in particular feeling the full force of his rage.

In a very weird way, this reminded me of listening to something that one might expect to spew forth from Frankie Boyle's mouth but that's delivered in Joe Pasquale's voice. Keeping with the food theme, it will have a Marmite effect on listeners.

This amusing stand-up showcase returns for its fourth series. Host Jon Richardson heads up a team of fellow comedians Seann Walsh, Josh Widdicombe, Sara Pascoe, Paul Chowdhry and new member Andrew Lawrence. They take it in turns to do a spot of stand-up on the stage of London's Clapham Grand, taking an alternative look (which mostly means they swear sometimes) at the events of the week.

Mock The Week's Andy Parsons takes on hosting duties tonight.

Don't worry about the first two or three minutes, when you might think he's having a bit of an off-day - he's on fire for the rest of his set, covering everything from the war in Afghanistan to how to deal with cats who use your garden as a toilet (before people call the RSPCA on me, while I find his idea funny, I wouldn't actually use it myself!).

His first act is the brilliant Andrew Lawrence, the self-confessed scary-faced comic who has been popping up on various panel shows this year.

I first saw Andrew a few years ago at a comedy club when he was a relative newbie to the circuit, and he was so funny he stole the show from the other, more experienced comics.

So it's lovely seeing him get this prime time platform (and, in my view, steal the show again, which is really going some considering his stage mates). Completing the comedy line-up is king of the one-liners Milton Jones... he of the messy hair, vacant stare and psychedelic shirt.

Combined, the three comedians give you a reason to stay in. Although with BBC iPlayer and its clones, not to mention magic set-top boxes that record entire series at the touch of a button, who revolves their lives around watching TV these days?

Oh yeah... that's right, I do. Doh!

The acts may be hit and miss but stand-up comedy is still enough of a draw to keep the ratings up for the seventh series of this comedy showcase recorded at London's Hammersmith Apollo. Tonight's host Andy Parsons, the bald-domed star of Mock the Week, will be joined by Andrew Lawrence for a large helping of innocuous observational comedy, while panel show regular Milton Jones will offer up a portion of silly, but entertaining one-liners.