Radio Times

The comedy panel show is a bankable TV medium.

The subject is utterly unimportant; it could be based around food additives, 17th-century French court costume or international property law; all that's needed are a couple of reliably witty people, a deadpan master of ceremonies and a couple of other vaguely controversial guests to act as stooges.

When it works, as it usually does on Have I Got News for You, you see a magnificently entertaining romp as quick-witted, fast-thinking contestants tear strips off each other. When it fails, as it usually does on They Think It's All Over, you cringe through your fingers as a pre-scripted line is ballsed up by an athletics bronze medallist with a diction problem.

As these shows continue to sprout like well-watered cress from the night-time TV schedules, it's obvious that there's a dearth of people who are able to deliver the funnies when the cameras point in their direction.

And riding to the rescue comes a slightly repressed, disgruntled ex-Cambridge student in an unpleasant brown suit. In a recent TV interview, David Mitchell was asked "You, er, go on rather a lot of those panel games, don't you?"

Yes, he does, for one simple reason - he's incredibly, disgustingly witty. "I'm just incredibly witty," he said in a recent episode of That Mitchell and Webb Look, and he's incredibly, disgustingly right - he's even starting to make Paul Merton look slow on the uptake.

While a typical panellist - an ex-member of Bronski Beat or a budding stand-up comedian - looks as if their careers depend on everything they utter, Mitchell's bons mots are shoulder-shruggingly effortless.

Whether he's putting himself in the position of insurance salesman to the Russian Army, pondering how Beethoven could be used to sell soufflés or assessing the suitability of the name "Proctor & Gamble" for a new-born child, you're guaranteed a stream of unwilting wit, a torrent of failure-based monologues that combine self-deprecation with pedantry, and smut with one-upmanship.

After a while, you start wishing everyone else would shut up in order to give him more airtime, and I start gaining some perverse pleasure from imagining a dinner party scenario where I'm ritually humiliated as he delivers a devastating hammer blow of wit as I spill the gravy on the tablecloth?

Sorry, I'm dragging you into my own rather grim private fantasy. Peter Cook could be funny without trying, but he generally couldn't be bothered. So, David Mitchell, please continue being bothered. There's a lot of half-arsed panel shows out there. And they need you. Desperately.

I can only admire the wit of David Mitchell and all the clever presenters of repartee, including Alan Davies, Stephen Fry, Paul Merton, Jo Brand, et al. I grew up in the era of The Goon Show, which has shaped my appreciation of mad humour and leaves me amazed at the way these brilliant minds work. Would that I could!

"Your opinion is wrong."

Seriously? That's as good as you could come up with? And you find David Mitchell one-dimensional?

I agree with Miss P, there is a great difference between stand-up comedy, sketch comedy and witticism, and David Mitchell's humour clearly fits the latter two. I personally quite like That Mitchell And Webb Look, though I think their last series (3) was very definitely more funny than the previous ones. The first two series, as far as I recall, never made me clutch my sides with laughter, whereas their third has. But to say that their sketches are worthy of a 5 year old is, I believe, missing out. Their sketches are, mostly, actually quite intelligent; plays on concepts and words and conventions and just general things that have the element of absurdity. So whilst some of their material doesn't always make me laugh out loud, it always makes me grin and chuckle at least. And you know what? I don't have a problem with that, I think that's brilliant.

But that's my taste. I'm not so foolish as to believe that there's some Universal Standard of Comedy. That's just absurd and I hope that someone's written a sketch on it or will do in future, it needs to have the piss taken out of it.

As for these comparisons with Frankie Boyle, who I think is very funny, that's a little like comparing an apple with a lemon. I'm sure I don't need to tell you all who's the lemon in this analogy. I think Frankie Boyle's humour is deliberately meant to be laugh out loud, clutching sides funny, and is deliberately meant to go too far sometimes. Nothing wrong with that. If anyone gets offended by his jokes... well, that's not my problem. I think it is a pity that a lot of his stand-up is then recycled for Mock The Week (or possibly the other way round, I don't know), and you can tell when he spontaneously improvises something to add to his old material. So in a way, I agree with MazY, but only in a way. The most impressive comedians are the ones that improvise their entire acts on stage, right there and then. Bearing in mind that panel shows have the same element along with the scripted stuff, kudos to David Mitchell.

Whether David Mitchell makes a better comedy actor or comedian, I'm not sure. Thing is, you can tell when he had no part in writing his characters. Mark Corrigan, for instance, is clearly written at least with his contributions and fine-tuning; Peep Show, I understand, is very much a collaborative project. But as Tim, a Conservative party PA in the Shakespeare Retold's The Taming of the Shrew... he's very sweet as the both face and arse cheek sore Tim, but it is very removed from the rest of his own comedic work. I'm going to hope that his career progresses to the point where he only as to act the parts he wrote himself personally, or just be himself on panel shows or in his Observer column.

Sitting in the middle does not mean that he is the captain, it's a hangover from when mock the week was every man for himself.

I love both Frankie Boyle and David Mitchell, they are two of the funniest commedians about. I personally only would allow the Howard/Parsons to win if they have Mitchell with them.

As far as Mitchell's stand up goes, yes he is slightly weaker than Boyle, his wit and vitriol really make him perfect for the panel show, without resorting to horrificly offensive material.

PS I really hate andy parsons(so much I'm not giving him capital letters). I've had more fun having my fingernails ripped out, and hot pokers branding my skin.

David Mitchell succeeds where others fail because of his in-depth knowledge and quick repartee. He's sort of a Stephen Fry in waiting. Agreed (though I think he would too) that he's not a stand up at all but someone to whom sketch writing and ad-libbing comes naturally. I'd say he's more QI than Mock the Week.

Surely the fact that these guys have the time to appear repeatedly on such shows demonstrates that none of them are that good. The good ones are out touring, preparing and testing new material, and performing in more credible environments.

Regardless, there is one thing that I think we can all agree on: Russell Howard is about as funny as a funeral.

The thing is, David has never claimed to be a stand-up comedian anyway; there is a quote attributed to him somewhere (sadly, I can't recall where offhand!) that to him, stand-up felt "unfinished" compared to the more polished and secure environment of character/sketch comedy. However, there's a difference between being a good comedy actor and a good comedian; likewise, there's a world of difference between stand-up and witticism. Even stand-up comedy can often rely on a well-rehearsed script (with deviation at the discretion of the performer), whereas it takes someone sharp and genuinely funny to say funny things off-the-cuff. I'm not trying to rubbish stand-up as I like all forms of comedy; I'm just saying that there's a difference between comedic forms!

I find David Mitchell one of the funniest people "doing the rounds" (as it were!) today. Long may he reign as the panel show king... well, as long as he wants to, anyway!

David Mitchell has a very quick wit, and almost effortlessly rambles on with hilarious conclusions. There's an obvious level of intelligence behind this man's humour, and he has a high 'tele likeability factor'. Boyle on the other hand 'brings up' the same puerile school yard nonsense whatever show he appears on, which, quite frankly, I can live without. Yeah, shocking can be funny, and FB does hit moments of seemingly pure funniness at times, but most of the time we are hit with the vomit that continually spews from his mouth. However, FB is more akin to Einstein when compared with the terrible 'humour' of Russell Howard. He is definitely in the wrong job. Comedian? That's funny in itself.

Is Mock the Week's 'Scenes we'd Like To See' round not stand up? Mitchell always participates in them. And nothing against Frankie Boyle (I'm a fan) but how many times has he been on QI? Mitchell is panel show gold.

Why do you think they make David Mitchell team "captain" on Mock the Week? Cos he's not that funny and he definitely can't participate in the stand-up rounds! He's great in peep Show (not written by him) but the rest is mediocre at best.

Now if you want a REAL comedy panellist genius look no further than FRANKIE BOYLE! His near-the-knuckle jokes make mock The Week into a laugh-out-loud show not just another panel game. Let's hear it for Frankie and less of the David Mitchell nonsense.

Couldn't agree more: the scripted comedy he does is hit and miss, but as you brilliantly describe it, his lugubrious off-the-cuffery is invariably inventively oblique and reliably droll. Even Mock the Week is worth watching when he's on.

Throughly disagree on some aspects.

David Mitchell is a marvelous comedy ACTER (as in peep show, where he was superb) however "The Mitchell and Webb Look" was filled to the brim with weak cliche and writing a 5 year old could match. Admittedly it had some moments, about once or twice an episode id turn up the corners of my lips, but that was about all.

Whilst i agree with the game show ideas and that fact that a few decent guests can turn a show round, lets not forget the host, which plays a bigger role than you might think. Jimmy Carr for example is widely criticized, but would "8 out of 10 cats" be quite so funny without him? i think not.

In essence David Mitchell should stick to his comedy acting and appearing on the TV game shows, but please David, don't write more comedy's!

The man is hilarious,naturally funny.

I have to disagree, as I find him totally and utterly one-dimensional! He whines everything he says and milks the fact he looks like he should be behind a desk at an Avis car-rental booth, at an airport no less. What you have described as your favourite game show scenario is already clearly present in the marvellous programme that is QI, whereupon master Mitchell could only rank amongst the fellow contestants as 'alright I guess'.

Your opinion is wrong.