Michael McIntyre: Live & Laughing

Comedy gold - Michael McIntyre's Live and Laughing

He may be reviled, but the highest-earning comedian around is this era's Tommy Cooper or Eric Morecambe... and a class act.

The rise of the squealing, scampering pup has been phenomenal. His 2008 Live & Laughing tour, from which this show was plucked, spawned the fastest-selling DVD ever for a stand-up (or in his case, a roam-around). It probably won't whet your appetite to scan his list of topics: traffic, wake-up calls, limp handshakes... but the kinetic comic is a master at latching onto detail that chimes with the audience. Michael McIntyre may be the yin to Frankie Boyle's yang, but his vast following makes him a very big yin indeed. Billy Connolly, beware.

Michael McIntyre is laughing all the way to the bank

Michael McIntyre is set to become one of Britain's wealthiest entertainers, earning up to £10 million from a series of sold-out shows, DVD sales and a book deal.

The BBC should be wary of overexposing its new post-Sachsgate comedy hero, Michael McIntyre. Energetic, likeable and genuinely funny though he is, there's a danger that his almost weekly appearances on the box will wear the charm thin. Anyway, this amusing hour-long special features him performing a stand-up show to a sell-out crowd at the Hammersmith Apollo.

After the success of his roadshow, here is another chance to see Michael McIntyre's live routine recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo. This is high-energy observational comedy, filled with verbal gymnastics and a flouncing physicality that has him skipping around the stage, and it's good-humoured and safe.