I was late for a show this week. Possibly the first time ever. It was The Grandees at The Hen & Chickens, a venue I have regularly visited, but not when Arsenal have been playing at home nearby. As a result, parking around Highbury Corner was suspended, and having arrived in good time, I had to park half a mile away down Upper Street. After running to the venue I got there a few minutes after curtain-up, stood outside the door listening and sneaked in during a version of Short People by Randy Newman with the word "Short" replaced by the word "Deaf".

I was not impressed and things didn't improve over the next 40 minutes. You can read my review by following the link here. I can't remember the last time I gave a show one star, but in my opinion The Grandees really was that bad. A couple of days later thisislondon received a comment from someone who presumably rumbled me coming in and suggested it might have helped if I hadn't missed the first ten minutes.

Well, as a professional journalist with impeccable standards I popped back to the show last night to check up on what I had missed. I didn't want to enter and disturb the cast by leaving at the point that I arrived on Tuesday so I listened at the door. "Deaf People" started around 5, maybe 6 minutes in, so I didn't arrive ten minutes late.

Although the five scene-setting minutes got some laughs, I don't think there was anything there that would have changed my opinion. In fact even if the first five minutes had been five-star quality, the one-star quality of the next 40 minutes would have dragged the average back down again. I'm prepared to accept that some people enjoyed the show, but I'm afraid I'm still not one of them.

So should I have not filed a review at all after arriving late? I think my review was absolutely valid (and I'm sure if I'd given it a five star review there would have been no complaints). Having been there for nearly all of the performance there was more than enough evidence of the tone and the quality of the writing, or lack of it. I tried to give The Grandees the benefit of the doubt, but the evidence was stacked against the first five minutes being a work of genius.

I'm sure I'm not the first critic to file an honest but negative review having missed the start through no fault of their own. There are certainly plenty who have left early because they felt that a turkey was not going to redeem itself in the final act. Not to mention those that have opted for a gentle snooze while waiting for the curtain to come down. At least I stayed to the end and stayed awake.

Well there's a turn-up for the books. As one celebrity tangled up in a scandal pulls out of presenting the British Comedy Awards he is replaced by another celebrity tangled up in a scandal. Except that this one was six years ago, so that's alright. With names such as Harry Hill, Al Murray and Lee Mack being bandied around (Stephen Fry was allegedly, reportedly, offered the gig and declined) as host of this year's British Comedy Awards, the announcement that Angus Deayton is doing it comes as a real surprise.

One would have thought that after all the Ross/Brand kerfuffle they would have found someone squeaky clean. What about lovely Jo Brand-lookalike John Sergeant? Instead they have found someone who made tabloid headlines in 2002 that resulted in him stepping down from the Have I Got News For You quizmasters' chair.

I really don't understand this one. Is ITV being playful? Do they have short memories? Or are they hoping to make Deayton a big star again? After all, he's been knocking around various ITV shows for a few years now without hitting the dizzy "Mr Sex" heights again.

I'm no prude and I'm all for forgive-and-forget, but in the current climate this is really strange. Let's just hope Angus has been behaving himself recently otherwise the tabloids may have a field day in the next few weeks. Now, excuse me while I go and pick my jaw up off the floor.

Does stand-up comedy work on TV? It's a question regularly asked by TV people and we are about to find out again. The stand-up showcase Live At The Apollo is due to fill the Jonathan Ross-shaped hole on BBC1 from Friday 28 November.

Acts booked include Frankie Boyle, Sean Lock, Russell Howard, Michael McIntyre, Lenny Henry, Dara O'Briain and Al Murray. Though unlike previous series it sounds, judging by the large line-up, as if the show will contain extended clips of some acts rather than 45-minute gigs.

If this is the case it could be a mistake. Numerous previous TV shows have opted for this format, and apart from Saturday Live, which spawned Harry Enfield's Loadsamoney and Stavros, few have had an impact. Many just end up as late-night filler, plugging a gap in the schedules. In fact the current proliferation of panel shows developed as a way of getting comics onto the box away from the mic stand and in a format that worked.

With the best comedians you don't just want their tightest ten minutes, you want the whole thing. In the vernacular of reality TV, you want to be taken on a journey. Not dumped two stops after you got on. The likes of Dara O'Briain and Al Murray build a show over an hour, bantering with the audience and making the whole greater than the bits. it will be interesting to see if and how they get cut down.

The mega-success of comedy DVDs – Frankie Boyle's new one has sold 15,000 on the day of release alone and Michael McIntyre's DVD is rumoured to have done better – confirms that when a fan likes an act they want to see lots of it. Ironically the success of Boyle and McIntyre's DVDs may be because viewers have seen their bite-sized appearances on shows such as Mock The Week and have liked what they've seen and wanted more.

Maybe Live At The Apollo will be a success – if not in terms of ratings, in terms of plugging DVDs. which must be quite nice for Addison Cresswell. You might have heard his name recently because he manages Jonathan Ross. But he is also part of the production company that makes Live At The Apollo. His agency, Off The Kerb, also handles Michael McIntyre (and Dara O'Briain and Sean Lock). So any McIntyre, O'Briain, Lock DVD sales generated by this telly series should also be good for his bank balance. So to answer my initial question. Stand-up comedy certainly works on TV. For Addison Cresswell.

And now for your weekly Ross/Brand bulletin. The ripples of the affair look like to going on for another few months yet. Not only did Andrew Sachs steal the show as Manuel at Prince Charles' 60th birthday gig on Wednesday night, but news has leaked out of some of this year's British Comedy Awards nominations. And guess what. Ross has reportedly been shortlisted for Best Comedy Entertainment Programme while Brand has been nominated as Best Live Stand Up.

The show, which was not broadcast last year, has previously been famous for controversial live moments – Julian Clary's offhand Norman Lamont remark and Michael Barrymore going off-script – but will Ross and/or Brand turn up? And how embarrassing would it be if after all the calls for their sacking they walk away with prizes next month. If the judging panel really wanted to create a front page story to get the viewers watching they know who to give those gongs to.

Oh, and by the way, expect Graham Norton, Alan Carr and next year's big thing Michael McIntyre to collect prizes too.

Meanwhile we still wait to hear who will present the Awards following Ross's decision not to do the honours for the first time in the show's history. The smart money should be on someone who works regularly with ITV – Harry Hill or Al Murray. But the aforementioned Norton, Carr and McIntyre would also do a great job. Carr and McIntyre, incidentally, are managed by the same company as Jonathan Ross, which may or may not give them more chance of landing the gig.

Jimmy Carr could also be a contender if the organisers want to go for edgy one-liners. Or Mick Fleetwood and Samantha Fox is they really want to take a risk. Given recent issues, however, they may want to play it safe. I wonder if Phillip Schofield and Ferne Britton have a suitable window in their diaries?

UPDATE - OFFICIAL NOMINATIONS JUST IN AS FOLLOWS....

Best TV Comedy Actor of 2008
David Mitchell – Peep Show (Objective for Channel 4)
James Corden – Gavin & Stacey (Baby Cow for BBC Three)
Ricky Gervais – Extras: Christmas Special (BBC Comedy for BBC One)

Best TV Comedy Actress of 2008
Ashley Jensen – Extras: Christmas Special (BBC Comedy for BBC One)
Olivia Colman – Peep Show (Objective for Channel 4)
Sharon Horgan – Pulling (Silver River for BBC Three)

Best Comedy Entertainment Personality of 2008
Alan Carr – Friday Night Project/Sunday Night Project (Princess Productions for Channel 4)
Ant & Dec – I’m a Celebrity .. Get Me Out of Here/Saturday Night Takeaway/Britain’s Got Talent (ITV Productions for ITV1/ITV Productions & Gallowgate for ITV1/SYCO Television & TalkBack Thames for ITV1)
Graham Norton – The Graham Norton Show (So Television for BBC Two)
Harry Hill – Harry Hill’s TV Burp (Avalon Television for ITV1)

Best New British TV Comedy of 2008
The Kevin Bishop Show (Objective for Channel 4)
No Heroics (Tiger Aspect for ITV2)
The Inbetweeners (Bwark for E4)

Best TV Comedy of 2008
Benidorm (Tiger Aspect for ITV1)
Gavin & Stacey (Baby Cow for BBC Three)
Peep Show (Objective for Channel 4)

Best TV Comedy Drama of 2008
Drop Dead Gorgeous (Hat Trick for BBC Three)
Mutual Friends (Hat Trick for BBC One)
Skins (Company Pictures for E4)

Best Comedy Entertainment Programme of 2008
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (Hotsauce TV for BBC One)
Harry Hill’s TV Burp (Avalon Television for ITV1)
The Sunday Night Project (Princess Productions for Channel 4)

Best Live Stand-Up Performer of 2008
Alan Carr
Michael McIntyre
Russell Brand

Best Male Comedy Newcomer of 2008
Dan Clark – How Not To Live Your Life (Brown Eyed Boy for BBC Three)
Simon Bird – The Inbetweeners (Bwark for E4)
Steve Edge – The Cup (Hartswood Films for BBC Two)

Best Female Comedy Newcomer of 2008
Anna Crilly – Lead Balloon (Open Mike for BBC Two)
Isy Suttie – Peep Show (Objective for Channel 4)
Katy Brand – Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show (World’s End for ITV2)

Best Comedy Panel Show of 2008
Have I Got News for You (Hat Trick for BBC One)
Never Mind the Buzzcocks (TalkBack Thames for BBC Two)
QI (TalkBack Thames for BBC Two)

Interesting to hear that Robin Williams did a surprise gig in front of a small crowd of comedy nerds at Aldwych's Chuckle Club on Saturday night in advance of his Prince's Trust shows this week. Before you could say "Nanoo Nanoo" the former star of Mork and Mindy had whizzed in and done some slick gags about Barack Obama much to the shock of the stunned crowd. And presumably he didn't ask for a fee either.

One of the constant joys of the London comedy circuit is the chance to see a big name up close and personal – and cheap. Stadium fillers Williams and Chris Rock have both previously pitched up at the relatively intimate Comedy Store when they've been in town, but big British stars often road-test their material in smaller venues too.

Frank Skinner talks entertainingly about returning to the spit-and-sawdust circuit last year in his new book, On The Road. Doing a club gig to see if he can still cut it he meets a young comedian called Rich Wilson who introduces himself by saying "I'm Rich". Millionaire Skinner says "so am I". I once saw Skinner in a tiny Hampstead pub doing material he did a few nights later when presenting the Brits and I have to say I enjoyed the pub set more. Some low-profile shows are a real shock. A couple of weeks ago I saw Chris Langham make a totally unexpected appearance at a gig in Farringdon, which really took me back.

Over the years I've seen a lot of great acts getting back to their roots by either doing unlisted gigs or low-key advertised shows and they've not always been a roaring success. Harry Hill had a hard time on a boat on the Thames, Alan Davies was interrupted by an audience member who joined him onstage at the Banana Club in Balham. One was worse for me than the act. I sat so close to Al Murray's Pub Landlord in a Battersea venue as he dribbled beer that I should have sent him my laundry bill.

I've missed a few big names in little places. Lee Evans regularly warms up for his mega-tours at the Glee Club in Birmingham, which is off my beat, while Lenny Henry has tried out new gags at lunchtime in a Soho pub round the corner from his office when I've been deskbound in another part of London. In July the Mighty Boosh boosted their hipster credentials by test-driving their musical set in East End club Cargo.

As one comedian once said, being famous doesn't gain you too many advantages in these situations. Maybe a couple of minute's grace and then if your material isn't up to scratch the audience will give you as hard a time as a novice. And maybe that is why comedians do it. If you are about to go on tour and charge in the region of £40 for a ticket you want to make sure your gags work. And where better to try them out than on the cheap? Fans can hardly complain if you aren't funny – they've either paid nothing or less than a tenner, which is pretty good value even in these hard times. Plus they've got a great story to tell their mates at work the next day.