Milton Jones

Mock The Week's Andy Parsons takes on hosting duties tonight.

Don't worry about the first two or three minutes, when you might think he's having a bit of an off-day - he's on fire for the rest of his set, covering everything from the war in Afghanistan to how to deal with cats who use your garden as a toilet (before people call the RSPCA on me, while I find his idea funny, I wouldn't actually use it myself!).

His first act is the brilliant Andrew Lawrence, the self-confessed scary-faced comic who has been popping up on various panel shows this year.

I first saw Andrew a few years ago at a comedy club when he was a relative newbie to the circuit, and he was so funny he stole the show from the other, more experienced comics.

So it's lovely seeing him get this prime time platform (and, in my view, steal the show again, which is really going some considering his stage mates). Completing the comedy line-up is king of the one-liners Milton Jones... he of the messy hair, vacant stare and psychedelic shirt.

Combined, the three comedians give you a reason to stay in. Although with BBC iPlayer and its clones, not to mention magic set-top boxes that record entire series at the touch of a button, who revolves their lives around watching TV these days?

Oh yeah... that's right, I do. Doh!

The acts may be hit and miss but stand-up comedy is still enough of a draw to keep the ratings up for the seventh series of this comedy showcase recorded at London's Hammersmith Apollo. Tonight's host Andy Parsons, the bald-domed star of Mock the Week, will be joined by Andrew Lawrence for a large helping of innocuous observational comedy, while panel show regular Milton Jones will offer up a portion of silly, but entertaining one-liners.

Milton Jones: Taking Christ Out of Christmas

If you're an atheist, why not go out and look up at the night sky towards all those tiny jewels of light twinkling from thousands of light years away and think to yourself "that's all a bit of luck then." I'm a Christian and I'm winding you up of course. But perhaps there is something we agree on - taking the 'Christ' out of Christmas for instance.

Ardal O'Hanlon is on good form as the headline act at Dublin's Olympia Theatre, his saucer-eyed wonder undercut by a surreal streak. Supporting him on this trip back to his local theatre are Gary Delaney (a one-liner machine in the same vein as Milton Jones and Tim Vine) and the whimsical Josie Long.

Of the two, Long is the more appealing performer, with her diatribe on The Sun's Page Three girls being particularly well executed. Delaney is perhaps someone more to admire than like - you can't help but be in awe of someone who remembers so many gags, although the fact that he finds his own material quite so amusing does start to grate.

Milton Jones interview

Comedian Milton Jones is a master of his craft, and his craft is the one-liner. He talks about joke theft, Christianity and more in this interview...

Five minutes with... Milton Jones

Milton Jones is a popular stand-up comedian. He tells Dave Mark about the difference between Milton the man and Milton the persona as well as the art of the one-liner.

This week saw Mock the Week enter into double-figures as the show entered its 10th series. Judging by the latest episode, it's set to continue for some time to come.

Without Russell Howard, the show guest starred Chris Addison, Greg Davies, Milton Jones and Seann Walsh. Out of the guests, it was Jones, with his surreal and clever one-liners, and Walsh, who came up with the best Michael McIntyre impression I've ever come across, who stole the show. The other comics had moments too, with Davies coming up with a Blackadderesque extended simile about his grandmother's use of facial products.

There was some interesting stuff from the regulars as well, such as Dara O'Briain introducing a round called: "There's No Super-injunction on our Ryan Gags", and Hugh Dennis's running joke about Sepp Blatter's name sounding like the German for "step ladder".

Annoyingly, like in so many satirical comedies, many of the jokes were lazy. Addison did one about Eric Pickles and his weight, while Walsh made one about Wayne Rooney's stupidity. Walsh also got a rather cheap laugh from making up a taunted schoolboy called Richard Poowillie.

Dara O'Briain returns to host the topical comedy show, along with regular panellists Hugh Dennis and Andy Parsons. Though supposedly a competition between two teams (though O'Briain usually couldn't care less about sensible scoring), it's more a brutal contest of wit, or at least forcefulness of character, as comedians with little to say and no talent for interjecting are sidelined. This week the guests subjecting themselves to comedic natural selection are stand-ups Milton Jones and Seann Walsh, The Thick Of It's Chris Addison and Greg Davies, AKA the sardonic Mr Gilbert from The Inbetweeners.

The jokes may be less clever than in its big brother, Have I Got News for You, but Mock the Week can still serve up a few laughs. Now, as the 10th series begins, Frankie Boyle - the one who seems get a thrill out of reciting the most controversial jokes he can think of - has moved on. As has BBC Three darling Russell Howard, though as he is the least funny of the regular panel this is nota great loss. Dara O'Briain returns as host, with Andy Parsons and the quite wonderful Hugh Dennis still in their panel seats. They are joined by Chris Addison (The Thick of It, insurance adverts), Greg Davies (the headmaster in The Inbetweeners), and stand-ups Milton Jones and Seann Walsh.