Miranda Sawyer

Having been in "I hate all Radio 4 comedy" mode for quite some time, I found myself doing actual, real-life guffaws - more than one! - at Heresy on Wednesday evening. It's quite a while since I've done this listening between 6.30 and 7pm, I must say.

There's not much at all to Heresy - it's just a series of received opinions unpicked by witty people in front of a live audience - but, somehow, this week's episode really worked. This was a lot to do with host Victoria Coren Mitchell, who delivers her tinder-dry lines with just the right amount of nonchalance. She's sharp without being nasty or egomaniacal: at certain points in this episode, she formed a sort of comedy alliance with guest Katy Brand, also on great form. Lloyd Langford, a standup, was excellent, and Grayson Perry as hilarious as ever. The person who made me laugh the most, however, was a member of the audience during a discussion about whether anyone would want to own a picture painted by Hitler. I'm not going to spoil his deadpan punchline, but, listeners, I laughed. I honestly did.

Next thing, I'll start liking Radio 2 documentaries... Or maybe not. I do find them irritating. They have great content, but the style, editing and scripts drive me doolally. Too often they come across as documentaries for simpletons, and Radio 2 listeners aren't stupid.

If it's laughter you want, then may I recommend David Quantick's second series of 52 First Impressions. Performing for a live audience, Quantick tells tales from a life spent interviewing pop stars and working with famous people. It's less glamorous than that sounds. It's also human. Too many Radio 4 comedy shows feel detached from the person hosting them: overworked scripts and elaborate setups can kill a connection with the listener. Quantick's show is funny, because he is a funny person and knows how to write jokes. But it's also funny, because it's him, in front of a crowd, and not a professional comedian reading his lines. There's a realness about the show that brings you closer and makes you laugh for the fun, as well as the jokes. Also, his presentation skills are a lot better than in the first series.

Like Newsjack, The Show What You Wrote is a comedy show made up of sketches sent in by listeners: a bit like a modern version of Week Ending, though the producers and performers (such as John Thomson, Shobna Gulati and Gavin Webster) are well established. It's only the writers who aren't. You can't tell though: the sketches, chosen from thousands that are sent in by listeners, are on a par with other Radio 4 shows. It's almost impossible to write good jokes for people you don't know already, and yet The Show What You Wrote has an audience that manages to do just that. I hope the writers go on to great things, like writing (better) jokes for Michael McIntyre, or maybe, for themselves.

The week in radio: Radio 2's Comedy Showcase review

Radio 2 doesn't often make me laugh - not intentionally, anyhow - but the station certainly does its bit for the joking business. Since 2011, it's been the home of the BBC new comedy award and its Comedy Showcase, which started in 2010, has developed several shows, some of which, such as Jason Byrne's Father Figure, have gone on to success. Last week, the Showcase was due to give us five new half-hour programmes, but one - The King's Men, with Robert Webb and Terry Mynott - was pulled because of the Paris attacks. I've heard it and can't quite understand why it's been vetoed (it's set in 1909, in London), but it concerns incompetent secret service agents and, at one point, there are the distant sounds of bombs in it. Anyway, if you want to hear it, it's on iPlayer. It's good.

As are the three other sitcoms in the Showcase (one set in a golf club, one about a nice young man and his bad dad, one centred around an older woman who's not happy with her lot). I liked them all; well crafted, well acted, with the requisite level of nuttiness. But it was the final programme, The Tim Vine Chat Show, which had me laughing the most. It's not a sitcom, it's a standup show, and its energy really fizzes from the radio.

Vine rattles out gags like Tommy Cooper: so many that, even if you don't think they're all funny, the cumulative effect is hilarious. He even forces in some awful jokes when he interviews members of the audience, and gets the whole room to join in some terrible catchphrases. It's a lovely way to spend half an hour.

It was the final programme, The Tim Vine Chat Show, which had me laughing the most. It's not a sitcom, it's a stand-up show, and its energy really fizzes from the radio.

Tim Vine rattles out gags like Tommy Cooper: so many that, even if you don't think they're all funny, the cumulative effect is hilarious. He even forces in some awful jokes when he interviews members of the audience, and gets the whole room to join in some terrible catchphrases. It's a lovely way to spend half an hour.

The new series of Bunk Bed is up and running. What a funny - ha ha and peculiar - show this is. Peter Curran and Patrick Marber lie in their beds and chat about stuff for 15 minutes. That's it. It makes me laugh a lot. It's their little hmms and mmms, the pauses between subjects, the deadpan delivery. And the topics. Last week we had whether celebrities have changed the way they wave for photographs, why Curran got a beating with a wooden spoon from his mammy... Though it seems casual, there's clearly a lot of thought behind it, particularly from Curran. Last week he played Marber some Napalm Death. He took it well.

John Moloney is a standup who's long been revered on the circuit for his beautiful jokes and delivery. He's not a panel show type, though, so he's not particularly well known outside the comedy world. This 15-minute programme plays to his strengths: it's recorded as live, at a great comedy club, the Stand in Edinburgh, with Moloney on stage, telling you a story. Last week it was about his cat going to the vet's. Delightful, and deserving of a 6.30pm transfer, I would have thought.

The Casebook of Max and Ivan is a new, daft comedy series from Max Olesker and Iván González that boasts some top supporting talent (June Whitfield in the first episode, Reece Shearsmith, Matt Lucas and Jessica Hynes coming up). It's a sprightly, silly show that reminds me a little bit of Milton Jones (though not as surreal), and when everyone calms down a bit, it'll be very good.

Radio review: Private Eye podcast; Max and Ivan

Reviews of Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast and The Casebook of Max and Ivan.

The Russell Brand Podcast review

Russell Brand, in a new podcast, only has to open his mouth and it works.