Andrew Maxwell

Sky1's success with sporting panel show A League Of Their Own (heir to the BBC's '90s hit They Think It's All Over), has boosted their confidence in this cheap and cheerful genre. So now they've followed it up with a celebrity/gossip-based panel show hosted by Little Britain's David Walliams called Wall Of Fame. It doesn't really have much of a format, but realizes half the success of these shows are assembling eclectic guests, but relying on comedians. That said, considering they managed to book N Dubz singer Tulisa (a new judge on X Factor many viewers will be curious about), Wall Of Fame didn't capitalize on that signing. And to be honest, Tulisa looked half-bored throughout-even more so than teammate Jack Dee, who at least had the excuse that's his TV persona!

In Wall Of Fame, two teams answer questions based on a grid of famous faces on the titular wall. It's that simple. The outcome was like watching a hybrid of Celebrity Juice (minus the Shooting Stars-esque lunacy and some actual structure. It was diverting enough because most of the panelists (including comedians Andrew Maxwell and Mickey Flanagan) were giving it their best, and we'll overlook the weird decision to make Daybreak's Kate Garroway a team captain.

The biggest problem is that I'm not convinced Walliams works as a host, mainly because he can't resist putting on a very odd "serious face" whenever he's in charge. Walliams works much better as a rascally panelist, free to be cheeky and drop sexual innuendo, but as emcee he's restricted by the role's autocue-reading demands. I'm amazed Sky didn't realize this after seeing Walliams on the recent Comic Relief special 24 Hour Panel People, frankly. He was just as stiff on that whenever he hosted a segment, even before the excuse of sleep deprivation.

Here's another new panel show riffing off the week's news but this time it has a celeb gossipy bent. The super-duper Andrew Maxwell and deadpan Jack Dee are the capable comedy regulars; Kate Garroway and Tamara Ecclestone their pop-culture-savvy cohorts. This week's guests are Micky Flanagan and X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos. Occupying the host's chair is the ever-colourful David Walliams.

Interview: Andrew Maxwell

"It's like a hip-hop muppet show". Fullmooners founder Andrew Maxwell about his late-night comedy phenomenon.

Comedy is undeniably a booming business again. Though it may never reach the fever pitch of rock n'roll, a legion of related book and DVD releases and a plethora of live tours suggest that it's in rude health. It may be too rude for some at times but 2010 promises no let-up.

Laura Solon and Dan Antopolski both hit the road this month. Solon, who won the Perrier in 2005, will air her 2009 Edinburgh show, 'Rabbit-Faced Story Soup', a tour-de-force of characterisation and tightly-written one-liners. Antopolski is no slouch when it comes to one-liners either and he'll be aiming to show that he has more to offer than the hedgehog joke ("Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?") that won him, via a public vote, Dave TV's Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award this year.

The ever more recognisable The Thick of It and In The Loop star Chris Addison goes on tour in February with his first brand new show for five years. Mock the Week host, Dara O'Briain has announced a massive 60-date nationwide tour from March to June culminating in dates at the Hammersmith Apollo. And, though he once told me that he didn't fancy the idea of "Leamington Spa on a Tuesday evening", the Irish comedian, and a former Edinburgh comedy award nominee, Andrew Maxwell is finally going to be unleashed on UK audiences for his first regional tour from April. Though many up and down the country will already know this dexterous comedian from his club sets, this will be the first time that his full-length excellence will have been witnessed outside of Edinburgh or of his native country where he has always been guaranteed large turnout.

Other tours to watch come from Mark Watson (from October) who recently gave a good account of himself in the chair of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, sketch troupe Pappy's and Jason Manford from June. And, watch out, the comedian that people love to hate, Frankie Boyle starts his 'I Would Happily Punch Every One Of You In The Face' tour at Glasgow's Kings Theatre in March. Perhaps he'll seal the gig with a kiss.

Now in its eighth year, the annual Brighton Comedy Festival has a line-up that reads like a Who's Who of contemporary comedy talent. Here Russell Kane introduces some of the hottest young acts who haven't quite made it to household name status yet, including Andrew Lawrence, Ava Vidal, Micky Flanagan and Andrew Maxwell.

As much as it does good business filling its schedules with Top Gear repeats and faintly laddish comedy, Dave hasn't quite been able to resist trying its hand at original programming. Argumental - now returning for a third series - was one of the first fruits of that idea. Hosted by the continually charming John Sergeant, who grins his way through a script that seems slightly too crude for him, the show asks you to enjoy the spectacle of third-string TV comics notionally debating contentious propositions, but ultimately reeling off hastily assembled routines. Marcus Brigstocke and Rufus Hound captain teams featuring Frankie Boyle and Andrew Maxwell.