Paul Chowdhry

Live comedy DVDs round-up

Featuring reviews of Stewart Francis, Stewart Lee, Paul Chowdhry, Kevin Bridges and Dara O'Briain.

Channel 4 has acreated a band new panel game, hosted by former Doctor Who star David Tennant.

The idea of Comedy World Cup is an interesting one, as the theme of the show is comedy itself. It's a team game, with different teams each episode, consisting of one current comedy star as captain, with a younger comic and a veteran. This week, Captain Jo Brand with Dave Spikey and Shappi Khorsandi, played against Jason Manford, who lead alongside Paul Chowdhry and Nicholas Parsons.

The episode lasted an hour, which some might seem as being excessive for a panel game - but I disagree. For starters, it still isn't the longest panel show in terms of episode length, as that title goes to The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (not counting David Walliams and his 24-hour long panel show marathon for Comic Relief). You also have the ad breaks too, so the show is broken down a bit. Put it this way; an extended repeat of HIGNFY or QI is between 40-45 minutes long. Comedy World Cup is 45 minutes long, plus 15 minutes of advertising during which you can make a cup of tea. So it's nothing new. Some might say it's an improvement to have a break in the middle.

The show consisted of seven rounds, many of them reminding me of other panel shows and game shows. For example there a "What happens next?" round (see A Question of Sport), and one where children act out stand-up routines (see The Big Fat Quiz where they get kids to act out news stories).

Now, I admit that this show wasnt 'the funniest panel show I've seen. But to me, this isn't the point. For someone like me who is really into their comedy, it's like a pub quiz themed especially for me - and if you're a comedy buff then this is the show for you. But it's best watched with other like-minded people to see who really is more knowledgeable on these matters...

For once, it actually is openly about the money, money, money as the cream of mainstream comedy gathers for C4's annual Great Ormond Street fundraiser. And, while it's a bit harsh to call Jessie J a comedy act, there she is, headlining while plenty of big names wait in the wings for their three minutes on the mike. Such is the extraordinary popularity of stand-up now that plenty of the comedians in question (even - whisper it - a good number of the mediocre ones) will also be used to arenas of this size and paydays to match. Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre and Sean Lock will have seen it all before, but for up-and-comers such as Seann Walsh, Josh Widdicombe and Paul Chowdhry, this represents a significant opportunity to raise the profile. Oh, to be in that green room when someone crashes and burns...

This amusing stand-up showcase returns for its fourth series. Host Jon Richardson heads up a team of fellow comedians Seann Walsh, Josh Widdicombe, Sara Pascoe, Paul Chowdhry and new member Andrew Lawrence. They take it in turns to do a spot of stand-up on the stage of London's Clapham Grand, taking an alternative look (which mostly means they swear sometimes) at the events of the week.