Mark Steel

Radio Times review

Trying to make light of Derry's troubled past is a tricky business, and this edition finds Mark Steel on not such rip-roaring form as usual. That's not to say he's unfunny, but he does seem to spend a rather lot of time recounting history.

However, he's a consummate professional and he easily gets laughs out of the absurdity of the city being officially named Derry~Londonderry for its European City of Culture tenure; the citizens' renewed enthusiasm for anything, absolutely anything, new; the piffling train service; the rivalry with Belfast; and the fact Derry culture until recently meant "marching with a whistle or singing republican songs".

If you visit he says you may notice a touch of anger in Derry citizens, but from the sound of his audience they're all jovial and happy to laugh at anything - including bombings.

Mark Steel: The general secretary of British comedy

Alan Varley salutes his comedian of 2013, Mark Steel.

Radio Times review

Mark Steel is so resolutely down to earth that you just know a visit to the hippiest, new ageist place in the world, if indeed it is of this world, would provide him with rich pickings. And so it be. Starting with his description of Glastonbury, plagiarised in my first sentence, he gleefully toys with the mystical, magical reputation of the Somerset town - though some of the biggest laughs are for the reported reactions of Glastonbury-born residents to the more far-out sentiments of new age "incomers".

He also easily gets the audience on his side by pointing out that the town has nothing to do with the festival that bears its name, which is held seven miles away in Pilton. But then he finds himself caught out in the arcane political world of the Somerset cider drinker and the rivalry between Glastonbury and neighbouring town Street.

Not only does Steel manage to entertain, he also slips in a few fascinating bits of information: who knew that both Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper's boxing gloves from their famous 1966 heavyweight title fight were made in Glastonbury, or that the true tribe of Israel are peoples from Somerset? Listen out also for the most jaw-droppingly funny newspaper headline you're ever likely to hear - you'll be fighting back tears of laughter.

Classic interview: Mark Steel, 2006

Mark Steel is currently on tour with his In Town show, the live spin-off of his Radio 4 series in which he researches the area he is performing in and makes his set specific for that place. In recent years the veteran comic has been keen to do more than mere off-the-peg satirical stand-up. Here is an interview from 2006 when he was on the road and finding references to the French Revolution wherever he played.

Video: Five minutes with Mark Steel

Mark Steel talks to Matthew Stadlen about interruptions, how to influence public opinion, small town life and the difficulty of having original ideas.

Mark Steel: Can't just shut us up now Thatcher's dead

If someone robs your house, you don't say: "I disagreed with the burglar's policy, of tying me to a chair. But I did admire his convictions."

Town in Steel

One joy of making the Mark Steel's In Town series is experiencing the immense, sometimes ridiculous sense of pride in each place we visit, especially when there's nothing obvious to show off about.

Mark Steel calls Victor Lewis-Smith a joke thief

Mark Steel has accused critic Victor Lewis-Smith of stealing his material.

Victor Lewis Smith apologises to Mark Steel

The global issue of jokegate seems to be resolved. I received an apology from Victor Lewis Smith, so that's fair enough I'd say.

Mark Steel's back with his Sony Gold-winning stand-up programme, Mark Steel's in Town. And what a lovely show it is: slotting into that Radio 4 6.30pm slot with humanity, humility and, best of all, jokes that genuinely come out of the situation in which he finds himself. On Wednesday, Steel visited Handsworth and managed to engage the locals to such an extent that he could riff about a Rasta weatherman, in full Jamaican accent, and it not be offensive in any way. Good comedy is such an amazing skill, such a balancing act between telling the truth and pointing out faults, between teasing and bullying. Steel manages to be political and make an audience feel as though they've had a great big cuddle. That is a hard thing to do.