Nick Helm

Russell Kane presents the sort of show we've all been crying out for: a showcase for various up-and-coming comedians.

Kane introduces sets from Joe Wilkinson (the scruffy oddball upstairs in Him & Her), Diane Morgan, Nick Helm and the Helmettes, and Totally Tom. We're promised music, short films and sketches as well as stand-up, with sketches tonight from Lady Garden, Jigsaw, WitTank, Humphrey Ker and Hari Kondabolu. That's a lot of names to squash into half an hour, so the pace should be quick.

It's Live at the Apollo for the stroppy teenage children of the nation's league of Michael McIntyre fans, basically. Corralled by Russell Kane, a series of young comedy pretenders jostle for attention with inevitably variable but sometimes amusing results. It's pretty hyperactive stuff - nothing's on for more than a couple of minutes, so if one sketch or routine doesn't float your boat, there'll be another one along in a minute. Highlights include duo Two Episodes of Mash (featuring the wonderfully lugubrious, occasionally slightly unnerving Joe Wilkinson) and Nick Helm who closes the show with a song. Hopefully this series will keep the cast rotating - it's a potentially decent showcase for the next comedy generation, with no time for anyone to properly die on their arse.

Stand-up comedy is having a moment. You can spot it by the volume of stand-up shows nestling in the grown-up slots of TV programming. BBC3's latest offering grapples for a new take on the usual concept, with the self-coined "third Russell of comedy", Russell Kane, heading up a convoluted sketch-show-cum-stand-up fest. He's joined by the likes of Joe Wilkinson (the creepy one off Him And Her), Nick Helm and Totally Tom in a melee of stand-up, quick-fire sketches and behind-the-scenes skits.

An interview with Nick Helm

Dan Carmichael caught up with Nick Helm to find out what life is really like outside the North East - and whether we should pack our sun cream.

Nick Helm: interview

The gruff-voiced Nick Helm talks to Time Out about terrifying audiences into hysterics.

5 things you might not know about Nick Helm

The former 'dinner lady' and 2011 Best Joke of the Fringe winner Nick Helm doesn't get on with Alice Cooper.

One new panel show that is actually championing those very same creative comedians that are so loved on the live circuit is E4′s Show & Tell. Presented by Chris Addison, it simply invites comics to bring a few things in and talk about them in a humourous way - what's unusual is that the comics aren't the familiar shiny-suit, observational types or one-liner merchants that we're used to seeing on TV.

Take last week's line-up: Maeve Higgins, Nick Helm and Elis James. Excellent comedians, but hardly household names - and for this, the show is to be applauded. Because they're great! Charming, eloquent and all thoroughly deserving of this airtime, and each contributing to a genuinely lovely show that takes its time. Let's hope for a re-commission.

A minute of your time: Nick Helm, comedian (Link expired)

An interview with comedian Nick Helm.

Nick Helm: "The Human Car Crash of Light Entertaiment"

Nick Helm's award for best one-liner at Edinburgh comes four years after he began performing solo stand-up.

Nick Helm says 'funniest' Fringe joke was his dad's

Comedian Nick Helm said the joke which won him an award for the funniest gag at the Edinburgh Fringe was written by his dad.