I'm often asked if it's okay for a black/Jewish/Muslim comedian to make jokes about their race/religion or for a woman to talk about how bad her boyfriend is in bed bearing in mind that when men speak in a derogatory fashion about their wives or girlfriends it's considered sexist... The question is, have we become too sensitive? Are we already looking for offence when it doesn't actually exist?

Over the past weekend I have been lucky enough to be supporting professional wrestling legend turned stand-up comedian Mick Foley on tour. This is his third tour of the UK that I've worked on, and I think that I'm now familiar enough with him to consider him a friend.

The whole show lives in the implied context that we give to his actions which he exploits to add an air of sexual menace to proceedings. The mimes become graphic, violent, sexual, etc because of the meaning we apply which makes every action as uncomfortable as they are hilarious.

Surreal comedy treads a fine line; it either seems to work emphatically or leave the audience bemused and alienated.

Today is the eighth anniversary of the death by drowning of comedian Malcolm Hardee.

The joie de vivre you're left with after Feeling Lucky makes you thankful that Ramsey decides to eschew the darker elements of comedy to produce an often hilarious and entertaining evening of comedy.

Clad in tweed and carrying a wicker shopping basket, she looked like exactly the kind of person that the Daily Mail would use in an advertising campaign to drum up support for their publication: Despite a plethora of seats being available, she chose to sit next to me

Networking is a bit like dogging. You will get nowhere by staying alone at home in your bedroom.

Fans of Greg Davies will not have been disappointed with what should surely be regarded as a highlight of his career to date in a sold out gig at the Hammersmith Apollo.

The Glaswegian lawyer turned Radio 4 favourite is a deeply intelligent and considered comedienne who veers wildly from witty observational comedy to crass confessions of which she's ashamed of yet also vehemently defends.

A lot of comedy is about confronting taboos, death, sex, religion, etc, etc, Monty Python wrote a song and a sketch based on a crucifixion, not generally a subject seen as ripe for comedy but now considered a comedy classic.

As she bounds onto the stage, Shappi Khorsandi immediately exudes a warmth and charisma that's forever present during her show.

Free speech doesn't mean being able to say what you want, where you want, when you want, uncommented on or uncriticised. We have the democratic right to protest and campaign against misogyny and if that includes trying to convince and putting pressure on comedians to stop telling rape jokes then that is our democratic right too.

Most will be aware of Rob Delaney through his Twitter exploits; a prolific tweeter who has amassed over 600,000 followers, Delaney has risen from relative obscurity to be crowned as Comedy Central's 'funniest man' on the social networking site.

Being encouraged to climb a fibre-glass cow at quarter to four in the morning with two girls from Lancaster and an accountant named Henry is exactly the sort of thing I promised myself to avoid during the Edinburgh Festival this year.

I'd heard that Josie Long was becoming ever more politicised with every Edinburgh show and this show seems to be zenith of such aspirations. Much of ...

Chris Martin's Spot the Difference is an enjoyable and fun hour to be had at this years' Fringe. He finds humour in the middle class tribulations of h...

Every year for about a month, London gets a lot less funny. Vast swathes of the nation's favourite comedians all flock up to Edinburgh for the month of August. However, a few valiantly stay behind to participate in the ever growing Camden Fringe and one man gallantly at the forefront of this years fringe is James Mullinger.

Starbucks cares about me. I know this because they've recently started asking my name when I order my coffee. Yes, there's something a little Kafkaesque about that sort of thing, but you can have fun with it. Try using a pseudonym that the barista is unlikely to be able to spell. This week I've plumped for "Beelzebub" and "Agamemnon".

Well the excitement is building as the big event is now only a matter of days away. And despite organisational chaos, worries about the cost and the weather, the participants are ready for the off, having spent months, if not years in meticulous preparation. No, I'm not talking about the Olympics, but the annual comedy trade fair/booze up that is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Richard Herring explained to me yesterday: "I was told I couldn't use the words 'dick' and 'fuckinghamshire' in the 40 words. I wasn't too surprised about the 'fuckinghamshire' ("honourable member for fuckinghamshire" was the line) even though that isn't a swear word and presumably means you have to censor 'Scunthorpe' too.

Two days ago, comedian Lewis Schaffer asked me to be on his weekly radio show next Monday and wrote in his blog that my own philosophy of blogging an...