Kevin Bridges

Kevin Bridges - Melbourne Comedy Festival review

Kevin Bridges was feeling pretty smug about selling out his Melbourne run... until he realised his venue held just 250 people. That would still be an achievement for many, but in his native Glasgow he can fill arenas many times over.

Kevin Bridges already worth £4m

Scots comedian Kevin Bridges has amassed a £4 million fortune since bursting on to the stand-up scene.

Review: It's more like Top Gear with geeks

An audience of maths students looked on, scribbling on their notepads. It was like Top Gear with geeks. Dara O Briain had the advantage of a degree in maths and theoretical physics, but guests Peter Serafinowicz and Kevin Bridges looked completely bewildered.

Dara O'Briain returns for a third series of calculus-based comedy. Again he's joined by brain-in-a-tank Marcus du Sautoy, who immediately ingratiates himself with football-mad standup Kevin Bridges by explaining the physics behind Roberto Carlos's bafflingly bendy free kick at Le Tournoi in 1997 (something to do with the Navier-Stokes equations, apparently). Elsewhere, Bridges and the rather great Peter Serafinowicz try to solve problems around vegetables, cheese and guitars. Knotty fun.

Radio Times review

The problem-solving series returns to strike terror into the hearts of the trigonometrically challenged. This opener lures you in with some frolicking, manly banter about eight-dimensional kebabs and the fluid dynamics behind a Roberto Carlos free kick. But the problem with the format is that it's very difficult to play along at home. So there are lots of shots of things being arranged on tables and students saying "Hmm" into their marker pens, but we have little idea how any of them are doing until adjudicator Marcus du Sautoy wades in to make everyone (apart from Dara) feel a bit thick.

Comedians Kevin Bridges and the terrific Peter Serafinowicz are the guests. The latter, in particular, makes little attempt to disguise his bafflement throughout.

Scotland's funniest postcode

Meet the residents who share a suburb with Scots funnymen Kevin Bridges, Frankie Boyle and Sanjeev Kohli.

The week in comedy - feat. Simon Amstell, Kevin Bridges

Looking ahead to the week's chuckle forecast, including strong showings from the Knock2Bag mirth franchise, pun-based comedy, videogame-based comedy, and plents more ...

Jimmy Carr returns to host the entertainment where consonant-cussing and vowel-fouling are positively encouraged. What by rights should have been a diverting one-off is now arguably more successful than the Cats original.

The show works because the Countdown format is nigh-on impregnable, while there's nobody more competitive than a stand-up comic (no matter how dodgy their numeracy skills). Guests Kevin Bridges, Rhod Gilbert and Josie Long take on the brainteasers with regular captains Sean Lock and Jon Richardson, while Rachel Riley prepares for teasing of a different kind.

When I spoke to Carl Cooper, the producer of this series, I asked how much of the material for this edition - Kevin Bridges interviews fellow Glaswegian comedian Frankie Boyle - had to hit the cutting room floor. "It was a tricky one, content wise," he conceded, but you'd never know it from this brilliant edit.

All right, you might have an inkling when Boyle starts talking about beaming porn onto the outer walls of primary schools - not a practice he supports, takes part in or suggests, I should add, before the green biros come out to start an "appalled from . . ." letter.

For the most part, the conversation is on why the controversial performer has decided to stop - spending time with his family became more appealing than being under constant scrutiny for every word he said or wrote. There's an interesting section on why Boyle hates comedy panel shows where he reveals how scripted and planned they are, and how much he liked to drop a grenade into such proceedings.

He's certainly not lost his precocious comedy gift and shows like this are evidence that he can be put before a microphone without bringing a broadcast company into disrepute. I'd like to go on record now that he should be a guest editor on The Today Programme next year.

Almost by stealth, this vaguely satirical, topical stand-up showcase has made it to a fifth series. Functioning as a sort of halfway-house testing ground between Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You, it's seen a surprisingly illustrious stream of light-entertainment talent pass through its doors.

Jack Whitehall, Kevin Bridges, Patrick Kielty and Rich Hall have all made appearances before moving on; this time Paul Chowdhry takes over hosting duties while regulars Seann Walsh and Josh Widdicombe are joined by newbies Simon Evans, Romesh Ranganathan and Angela Barnes in sticking the boot into the week's news. Decent post-pub fun, if you're in the market for that sort of thing.