Frankie Boyle

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.

Dara O'Briain presents a festive edition of the comedy panel show. The series's regulars - Hugh Dennis, Russell Howard, Andy Parsons and Frankie Boyle - offer their reflections on Christmas and review highlights from the series. There are also contributions from other nimble-witted comedians, including Fred Macaulay, Holly Walsh, Milton Jones and David Mitchell.

Mock the Week's cheeky chappie has been a regular fixture on BBC3 of late. He lacks the satirical bite of fellow panellist Frankie Boyle, but makes up for it with sheer glee. His is an affectionate comedy, a medley of anecdotes rather than razor-sharp punchlines - the sort of stand-up you could take away for tea. And Howard was on particularly bouncy form during this 2007 show - recorded at the Bloomsvury Theatre in London and shown here for the first time - acting out tales about mile-high snogs and podgy toddlers, only pausing to break into a delighted dance.

Frankie Boyle lays into celebrity memoirs

Comedian Frankie Boyle berates publishers for producing 'crap' celebrity memoirs. Meanwhile his own is a bestseller.

This isn't just a Mock the Week festive special - it's a piece of comedy history. Frankie Boyle has already resigned from the panel in a blaze of bile because he feels that the show - and the BBC - want to cover "celebrities meeting meerkats" rather than real news. Here we'll see how much of the sting is left in his tail as he gives one final seasonal turn - and whether, as they review the best moments of the MTW year, they'll include that Rebecca Adlington comment.

Currently, the Wednesday night TV schedule is the most boring in the UK, unless you watch Spooks. I've never been so grateful to see pop music panel show Never Mind The Buzzocks (BBC2, 10pm) as I was yesterday evening, with Frankie Boyle as the week's guest host. Is it just me, or has the guest-host format worked wonders for Buzzcocks? I was expecting Have I Got News For You-style tedium (where they insist on making everything look amateur and distracting by keeping in outtakes of the host fluffing their lines, etc), but Buzzcocks has avoided all that redundant inanity.

It helps that Buzzcocks can afford to be uncontrolled and slightly meandering under the guiding hand of guests (with various levels of presenting skill), because that's always been part of its makeup, whereas HIGNFY was a razor-sharp satirical quiz in Angus Deayton's day, but has since devolved into a light entertainment panel show. Anyway, I thought Frankie Boyle did a surprisingly good job of keeping Buzzcocks focused (or was it good editing?) and he came across as more human than the acerbic quip-machine from Mock The Week. And guest Richard Herring's "career bounce" just goes to show that celebs in danger of being forgotten about should try co-hosting a ribald podcast instead of munch insects in the Australian jungle.

Dave's top original show - recently selected for the honour of a rerun on BBC2 - finishes off the series with a best-of compo. So it's a bit funnier, although it still has the problem of mixing autocued speeches that feel too scripted with improvised banter that feels rudderless and underpowered. Sean Lock and Frankie Boyle are the pick of the many guest debaters. They join regular captains Rufus Hound, who strips naked at the end, and Marcus Brigstocke, who doesn't. Cuddly chairman John Sergeant links the clips.

Dara O'Briain: 'We won't replace Frankie Boyle'

Dara O'Briain has predicted that producers will not seek a permanent replacement for Frankie Boyle on Mock The Week.

Frankie Boyle on loves, hates and gobstoppers

Nothing is taboo in comedy, insists Frankie Boyle, who cultivated his near-the-knuckle humour because "I've actually got a really soft, high-pitched voice, which is crap for stand-up, so I had to really shout and that has given me quite an aggressive style".

'Failure of editorial control' blamed for Boyle joke

The BBC Trust has detailed the full extent of the editorial failure that resulted in a Frankie Boyle joke about swimmer Rebecca Adlington airing on BBC2's Mock The Week, which it later ruled should never have been broadcast.