Stewart Francis

This topical panel show can always be guaranteed to provide a few belly laughs.

And unlike Have I Got News for You, it doesn't matter if you've been hiding under a rock for the past week and haven't got a clue what's been going on in the world.

The topical bit is used loosely. Instead it's more an excuse for stand-up comedians to show their wares, with Dara O Briain at the helm.

Joining show regulars Hugh Dennis, Andy Parsons and Chris Addison is my own personal favourite stand-up, Micky Flanagan, up-and-coming comic Nathan Caton and Canada's king of the one-liners Stewart Francis (if you love your comedy, you'll recognise him from an episode of Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow - he was the guy who opened with: "Don't worry, I haven't heard of you either").

Considering the show's format, which is just made for killer one-liners, tonight's episode promises to be even funnier than normal.

As a result of Mock the Week and The Apprentice: You're Fired, among others, Dara O'Briain is rarely off our screens these days, but it's easy to forget how good he is at stand-up. Here he delivers a beautifully observed piece about playing video games that'll have even Grand Theft Auto virgins snorting in recognition. He's introducing Greg Davies (We Are Klang and The Inbetweeners), who gets a lot of comedy mileage from his height (he's 6ft 8in); and Stewart Francis, a deadpan Canadian whose style is to spew out one-liners. On visiting a karaoke bar that didn't have any 70s songs he tells us, "First I was afraid... I was petrified".

Stewart Francis interview

One-line wonder Stewart Francis is back in town with his first solo show.

Comic Stewart Francis explains why he couldn't be gay

Canadian stand-up comedian Stewart Francis displays his gift for one-liners in concert.

Stewart Francis: on touring

The deadpan Canadian comic talks about supporting Ricky Gervais on tour, the art of the one-liner and why he has no truck with Twitter.

Anyone who enjoyed Live at the Apollo will be the natural audience for this show fronted by the dangerously ubiquitous Michael McIntyre. I like him a lot, but I'm starting to feel that he's on everything. He's good value, though, and knows how to work an audience. Here, he fills in between comparatively unknown stand-ups, with the exception of Mark Watson, with whom Radio 4 listeners might be familiar. It's a good show - the first is from Edinburgh; I particularly liked droll Canadian Stewart Francis and his relentless one-liners, and the laconic Watson. But the cheerfully exhausting Rhod Gilbert probably takes the prize with a daft story about a flight to Dublin: "I was going abroad, I'm Welsh, I bought shorts..."