Why has Bill Bailey written a guide to the orchestra?

Bill Bailey’s Guide to the Orchestra is an attempt to harmonise genial fun with serious musicology

Chat live with Ben Elton: Thursday November 19 from 4pm

Dylan Moran

Dylan Moran talks the talk of our uncompromising inner voices, with his lyrical Irish nonsense sharpened to an arrow

Time and place: Jack Dee

The comedian, 47, recalls living in London in the 1980s, swapping catering for comedy – and fending off a flasher outside his flat

Not the Messiah, Albert Hall, SW7

The music is impressive and beautifully performed, but it fatally dilutes the anarchic spirit of Life of Brian

Call of nature puts paid to Dave Chappelle's stand-up title hopes

The American comic's attempt to break the record for longest performance was scuttled by his own bladder

Russell Howard on Mock the Week and ridiculous news

As he continues his rise to the top rank of Brit-comedy with his new TV show Good News, he shares his thoughts

Grumpy Old Women Live Hexagon, Reading

An evening of Olympic-class whingeing about the state of the world, the collapse of good manners and the failings of men

Michael McIntyre

While it’s easy to like McIntyre’s act, it is harder to love it - and this consummate pro loses himself in the minutiae

What British comedy says about us

From the surrealism of the Goons to self-absorbed Ricky Gervais, the hits of recent decades are nothing if not varied

Stewart Lee: “I hate all popular culture”

The comedian explains why it is his duty to have a pop at the powerful — and that includes glibly offensive entertainers

Talent

Victoria Wood’s reworking of her 1978 play has moments of flair and some nice songs, but its time has been and gone

In the Kraftwerk komedy klub

Anything they do is ripe for a laugh, according to Ade Edmonson, Mike Myers and writers of The Simpsons and Father Ted

Tim Minchin

He combines musical wordplay with ruminations on science and faith that might be found in a Richard Dawkins broadside

Barry Humphries in Last Night of the Poms review

Dame Edna's alter ego is still one hell of a performer, but this revival dilutes his bawdy brilliance with musical pastiche

Leigh Francis: 'I'm just not very good at being me'

The comedian behind thecult series Bo’ Selecta! says that he feels more comfortable in a latex mask than he does in his own skin

Porridge

Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais often seem to be ripping themselves off, but it's still fun to revisit the popular TV series

Tim Key: bard of the banal

The winner of the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award is a modern-day mix of Milligan and McGonagall

Adrian Edmondson: ‘I was a year ahead: then she overtook me and shot off’

Living in the shadow of Jennifer Saunders, the former TV rebel is happy to focus on his farm, his family and his band