WATCHING on old re-run of Stephen K Amos and Frankie Boyle on Live At The Apollo re-kindled my enthusiasm for comedy.

Rob Brydon is very funny, but I’m not entirely convinced by this chat show.

Why are stand-up comedians always given talk shows?

Then they appear on current affairs quizzes before moving into the murky world of advertising or providing voiceovers for rubbish like You’ve Been Framed.

Anyway, following a long stint as a stand-up, Brydon moved into acting in Gavin and Stacey and his own show, the excellent Marion and Geoff, before appearing in The Trip with Steve Coogan.

Naturally then, the talk show was next on the agenda and he’s back with a second series.

Brydon, still funniest as Keith Barrett, interacts well with Matt Lucas, who comes across as a decent enough bloke, and there’s the usual segment in which the host attempts to perform with rubbish Irish band The Script with “hilarious consequences”.

Best by far here, somewhat surprisingly, was ventriloquist Nina Conti.

I always place ventriloquists alongside fire-eaters, snake charmers, jugglers, mime artists and sword swallowers in the extremely annoying category.

However, clearly things have moved on from the days when a bloke put his hand up the backside of a bear that would twist its head around and look shocked when it got a bit cheeky and it was a major achievement if he managed to say anything more than “gottle o’ geer, gottle o’ geer” without his mouth moving.

Ultimately though, it’s a shame when the best part of the show is provided by a guest ventriloquist when really quarter of an hour of stand-up from Brydon would liven up the whole affair.