Ian Wolf

A new comedy on E4, Show & Tell (fronted by Chris Addison) features three up-and-coming guest comedians talking about various items that they've brought with them.

In this week's opening episode, Welsh stand-up Elis James brought in a practically ancient pair of underpants which seem to have dated before he was even born. Roisin Conaty (winner of last year's Edinburgh Newcomer Award) talked about a video she watched when she was 13 which turned out to be a porn film; and sand-dancer (which, for anyone outside of the North East, means "South Shields resident") Chris Ramsey recalled about an incident with a nutter and an umbrella in a canal.

As well as this Addison asked his panel to bring in something relating to a particular subject, and then got the audience to talk about things they wanted to show.

Never too bogged down in the prepared material from James, Conaty and Ramsey, this is a very enjoyable show. And any programme which gives lesser known stand-ups a platform to perform on is worth promoting (admittedly Conaty is an award winner, but she isn't a household name by any stretch). But even when going off script the comics get decent laughs out of their props, whether it's James asking Conaty to cut out some of his underpant gusset or the unusual uses for a toy gorilla. It isn't the funniest show you'll ever see, but with the competitive element of panel shows removed it's much more relaxing.

This week QI returned to its original home on BBC Two. As part of a special night devoted to the world's most interesting (and personally I think the greatest) panel game a documentary covering the making of the show was broadcast.

Speaking as someone who knows QI back-to-front and inside-out, I already knew about much of the information mentioned in the documentary, although to most viewers it did include stuff which will of no doubt be of interest. The fact, for example, Michael Palin was to be the original host (Stephen Fry and Alan Davies were going to be team captains, with Fry the head of the clever team and Davies head of the stupid team) and that two questions were created by reading an entire Albanian dictionary cover-to-cover is interesting.

However, there were some things that even I was surprised about. While I know that the show has popular demand, I didn't know that it was the TV show with the second biggest demand for tickets in Britain (after Top Gear), thus making it the most demanded comedy show in Britain. No wonder I've only been able to see one recording at the time of writing.

The main area of interest to me is the work carried out by the show's researchers or "Elves". For me, being a QI elf would be my dream job. Just trying to find anything that would be of interest, coming across a glorious chunk of information that hardly anyone else knows about, would be a joy to behold. That's why I spend so much time on the QI forums, trying to contribute information in the hope of recognition. One day maybe I'll get that job... one day... a man can dream.

This week's Comedy Lab pilot was a dark sketch show from Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton.

And by dark, I mean many of the sketches were rather twisted...and rather long. They ranged from a policeman giving an exaggerated interview to a Hollyoaks soap parody set in the Hitler Youth; a pair of poverty stricken Scottish brothers, one of whom keeps spending all their money at a photo booth; two cocaine-fuelled girls who become rather monstrous when they take too much; and an annoying T4 presenter has a crisis of conscience after mocking a man with one giant ear.

The show offers some genuinely shocking imagery, too, like the "coke monster" which one of the cocaine taking girls turns into (resembling a black-eyed ape). Another scene features the T4 presenter and one of his interviewees drooling with insane, evil laughter at the sight of the giant eared man. And the first part of the pilot ends with a man being whipped with a belt in slow motion.

Totally Tom has many interesting ideas, but whether or not they can get enough laughs out of these moments is debatable. Having said that, there are some laughs - the idea of an "Eager Eagle" Nazi vibrator comes to mind. Why I thought of Max Mosley afterwards I have no idea...

The second in the series of Comedy Showcase pilots, Coma Girl isn't the strongest of shows - and I can't see it getting a full series.

The girl in question, Lucy (Anna Crilly, who starred in last week's Comedy Lab pilot Anna & Katy), is trapped in a coma full of surreal moments - like seemingly being at a party and a pier, which made very little sense.

The main goings on was with the people who were coming to see her, especially three school friends: Siobhan (Sarah Solemani), a TV presenter who has recently got fired from her job, Pip (Katherine Parkinson), a bohemian woman, and Sarah (Katy Wix from Anna & Katy), a mother of three. There is also Lucy's mother Mrs. Kay (Julia Deakin) who is constantly taking photos in the hope of building up evidence so she can sue someone on her daughter's behalf.

For me the show was slow going. There was the odd good moment (Pip giving the comatose Lucy a copy of last week's Heat magazine to read), but I think the problem is that this show would probably work better as a comedy drama rather than a sitcom. The idea of a comedy about someone in a coma isn't a new idea (see the radio sitcom Vent) so it can work, but it wasn't presented too well in this format.

There's another issue I have with the show...the theme tune. If you have a show about a woman in a coma, surely "Girlfriend in a Coma" by The Smiths would be the ideal tune to play?

The first Comedy Lab pilot is this sketch show starring Anna Crilly and Katy Wix, which also featured guest appearances from Lee Mack and Eamonn Holmes. While I wanted to avoid using the cliché of sketch shows being 'hit and miss', I though that this show was... well, you can guess.

One problem I have with this show is that the ideas appear to be limited. They had a bunch of sketches in the first half, and the characters and situations were just repeated in the second half. I certainly don't mind recurring characters in sketch shows over the course of a series, but, to me, repeating them in the same episode is rather lazy.

Sketches include a pair of women living in a flat owned by a goat, a German hospital soap opera with lots of fake slapping, and day time show Congratulation! in which the two women give a 'Congratulation' to people over the trivial things, and give the biggest congratulation by displaying their censored vaginas.

However, there were bits I liked. One of the characters was a nervous woman giving out awards at a village fete. While she, on the whole, was one of the weaker characters, the preposterous sight of a cake in the shape of a swastika did make laugh. Also there was Holmes's game show Pointer, a Weakest Link parody in which people hold out very stiff arms and point out who they want eliminating. Then there were the women who were obsessed with measuring anything, including the distance their uncle had to be from a primary school.

This show does have potential. All they need to do is sort out the wheat from the chaff and utilise the best sketches to their advantage.

Now back for its fourth series, the main question concerning Outnumbered is, 'Is it still funny after all this time?' The answer would appear to be 'Yes' - mind you, the fact that the first episode went out after My Family probably helped.

Eldest son Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey) is getting into a stage of typical teenage stroppiness, rallying against other members of the family and their attitudes, such as his mother Sue's (Claire Skinner) views of gay stereotypes; troublesome Ben (Daniel Roche) is refusing to wear his Wii safety cord and is under the belief that Jeremy Clarkson is gay; and curious Karen (Ramona Marquez) has an idea for stopping people stealing mobile phones by using bubonic plague.

The parents also have their own trouble, with father Pete (Hugh Dennis) quitting his job as a history teacher over a point of principle (and seemingly his own stupidity) and now working as a supply teacher, meaning Sue is working full time - and Karen is not happy about that. Pete is also having trouble with a eulogy at the funeral of his late gay uncle, which Sue finds amousing.

Outnumbered is still one of the best sitcoms around as far as I'm concerned. The semi-improvisation with the children is a joy to watch, especially when it comes to Karen. Let's hope it continues to keep the pace up.

I must confess that classical music is not my forte, but a special prom hosted by Tim Minchin has made what is mostly an alien world watchable.

This TV version is an edited down version of the original that went out on BBC Radio 3. Seeing as how this was originally a radio programme some of the choice of acts may seem odd: The Boy with Tape on His Face, for example, as his comedy is almost entirely visual. It's quite a shame, really, as he was one of the funniest acts on the night, with his mime versions of "Lady in Red" and the William Tell overture.

There are some other odd choices of performers, such as the puppets from Mongrels performing one of their songs from their TV show, "Middle Class is Magical". This was definitely a highlight in the show, though - not only was the song pretty appropriate, but this must be the first time that BBC Three and Radio 3 have joined forces - which is slightly worrying. (I always thought that was a sign of the apocalypse.)

There were also other highlights, such as Doc Brown rapping about Sir David Attenborough; a battle between the conductor and the pianist about whether to play Greig or Tchaikovsky's piano concerto; beat-boxer Beardyman performing some musical material you don't associate with the Proms; and Kit and the Widow (Kit Hesketh-Harvey and Richard Sisson) with Sue Perkins and soprano Susan Bullock singing Flanders and Swann's "Hippopotamus Song".

Minchin did well as host - while performing some of his own hits - and was probably the most entertaining of the acts on offer. I for one hope that the Comedy Proms return next year.

Having recently come back from the Fringe this week I thought to myself: "Do you know what I need? To watch some more stand-up comedy."

BBC Three has been broadcasting a selection of Fringe programmes. One of these is Edinburgh Comedy Fest, hosted by Jon Richardson, featuring a selection of stand-up comedians and musical comedians performing at the Fringe.

Alongside Richardson were Josh Widdicombe, Neil Delamere, Abandoman, Seann Walsh, Mark Watson, Russell Kane, David O'Doherty, Andrew Lawrence, Ron Vaudey, Jimeoin, Tom Stade, Ed Byrne and Shappi Khorsandi. I don't know about you, but to me that seems a bit too much.

This programme only lasted an hour, and there were 14 different acts. On average they performed less than 5 minutes each. Also, as far as I know, Vaudey isn't even performing at the Fringe. What's more, it was not exactly that diverse. Granted there were comedians from abroad (Canadian, Irish, Iranian), but there was only one woman performing and one non-white person performing - and that was the same person.

In this short format, some comedians did come across better than others. Widdicombe, Delamere and O'Doherty got the laughs, while Vaudey seemed to be a bit flat. I think it would've been a better show if there were more episodes that were of a shorter length. And more variety in terms of style of performers and their backgrounds would be nice, too.

This new ITV1 documentary sees Ronnie Corbett meeting up with some of his favourite comedians, past and present, while also looking back at key comedy moments.

As a result, this programme, on the whole, is not going to suit a die-hard comedy fan; because it covers lots of things that they will already know about, such as how The Two Ronnies came together, or the early radio history of Little Britain. This show is really more for the casual comedy observer who wants to learn more.

One thing that got me thinking, however, was that this first episode was all about comedy partnerships. However, Corbett didn't actually meet up with any double acts - just half of them, namely Miranda Hart, Stephen Merchant, David Mitchell, Matt Lucas and John Cleese (although admittedly there is a very good reason why Cleese's comedy partner was not on, seeing as how Graham Chapman has been dead for over 20 years).

If anything, this show seemed to be a comedian's version of Jim'll Fix It, with Corbett giving many of his comedians some exciting experiences. For example he allowed Miranda Hart to walk on to a stage where Morecambe and Wise had one of their greatest ever stage shows to the tune of "Bring Me Sunshine". Another segment saw Corbett getting Merchant a brand new tailor-made suit; another featured Corbett doing a Little Britain radio sketch, attempting to do Vicky Pollard - badly.

To be honest I was almost expecting Corbett to be sitting in his chair, holding a cigar and saying something along the lines of: "Now then, now then, I've got a letter from a Jim Davidson of London what says; 'Dear Ronnie, I haven't been on telly for years due to no-one liking my act because it is racist. So could you fix it for me to appear on your show?' Well, goodness gracious, unfortunately Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain does have a very tight budget, so Jim how would you like it if Ronnie fixed it for you to sing with the black and white minstrels?"

Having said all this I did like some of the archive clips that they showed, graphically onto any flat surface such as walls, clothing displays and theatre curtains. Some of them also featured clips I hadn't heard before such as one clip from The Goon Show which I found absolutely hilarious.

So, this show does contain the odd comedy laugh that you won't have heard of 50 times already, but other than that it is just a series of interviews and pleasant surprises.

Trollied is the first of several new comedy shows being made by Sky this season.

The show is set in a supermarket, looking at the lives of a north-western branch of Valco ("Serves you right"). The characters include Julie (Jane Horrocks), the current deputy manager who currently is holding the job temporarily, or as she puts it "interimming" (and not "into rimming"); butcher Andy (Mark Addy), a man who can tell a type of sausage by simply resting it on his shoulder; and Margaret (Rita May), a pensioner who appears to be away with the fairies.

The series began with a double bill, which probably helped as it gave viewers who weren't sure about the show the chance to see how it would develop.

Before the series began some questions had already been thrown up by the critics. For starters, how come no-one had set a sitcom in a supermarket before, as it seems an ideal location - an environment from which the staff cannot escape from, with various layers of hierarchy, including managers, checkout staff and stockers. I think I know why such a setting has never done before - cost. Supermarkets are large buildings, and normally there is no way a supermarket would let a TV crew in there for fear of disturbing the business, so you have to build a huge set.

Luckily, when it comes to creating big-scale TV shows, Sky has experience. They're responsible for bringing Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels into real-life. Compared to creating a world resting on the backs of four elephants standing on the shell of a giant turtle, a supermarket should be simplicity itself. Mind you, it is easy to do when your channel is owned by the world's second largest media company (after Disney), a group which owns two of the most popular animated sitcoms in the world (The Simpsons and Family Guy), some of the biggest scale dramas currently on TV at the moment (House), and owns more newspapers than you can shake a hacked telephone at.

Trollied also has other problems when it comes to critical reception. Namely, as it is a workplace sitcom it will be compared to The Office and therefore everyone will look down on it. But why stop there? It is also a retail sitcom, so you could compare it to Open All Hours or Are Your Being Served? for that matter. Just because there are similar sitcoms to it does not mean that it will be rubbish.

In terms of laughs, there were a few - enough to give it promise - but whether or not it can sustain that I don't know.