Top 10 Michael McIntyre Moments

Like many comedians, McIntyre progressed from stand-up comedy to hosting his own talk show. And in this interview with Jeremy Clarkson, he begins by reminding his guest of his early days presenting “Top Gear”. Without achieving the impossible and upstaging Clarkson, McIntyre manages to impart his unique sense of humour onto the chat... The highlight, however, comes when the comic looks at pedestrian signals used in other countries.

This BAFTA award-winning variety programme regularly attracts over seven million viewers, and for this famous routine, McIntyre turns his eye on accents from around the world. While his Australian imitation is probably the finest, as he considers the different speech patterns of Aussies abroad and at home, he quickly rattles through a full range. Of course, accents are nothing new to this guy. In one of his best-known gags from the “Live & Laughing” tour, he takes a hilarious – and unique – look at the Geordie dialect.

McIntyre has made multiple appearances on this long running British stand-up show, and in his first outing he examines the perils of travelling by public transport in London. Famous for his observational style of comedy, here he transforms a seemingly everyday event into a spectacularly colourful affair. The comedian later went on to host the series in 2008, before presenting his own version of the programme: “Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow” - so early spots like this certainly helped his career.

We all have an Americanism that gets under our skin, right? But during this Jonathan Ross interview, McIntyre looks at the subject from a different perspective, arguing that Americans have only simplified or otherwise altered English words in order to better understand them. And the spot on routine is just too hilarious to be condescending. He’s known for his energetic jokes, but he rounds this conversation of in especially exuberant fashion - bringing new meaning to the phrase “riding a horse”.

Much of McIntyre’s best and most famous material is based on real-life experiences he’s had with his family. Here, he takes us through his struggles writing an anniversary card to his wife after four years of marriage. But the topic turns to the bedroom pretty quickly, as he recalls his wife suggesting they each compile a list of five people they’re allowed to sleep with. Whilst her list includes the expected celebrities, McIntyre adopts a different approach.

In 2015, McIntyre went into business with TV Dragon Peter Jones to start a comedy-centred production company called Hungry McBear. We’re guessing, then, that Jones didn’t see this routine from another of McIntyre’s “Live At The Apollo” sets, where the comedian takes issue with the rudeness shown by the Dragons to entrepreneurs. Naturally, McIntyre has a money-making idea of his own, but his pitch is a little more unusual.

McIntyre has been called one of the funniest ever “Top Gear” Stars in a Reasonably Priced Car, and it’s easy to see why. Before he rose to prominence in the mid-2000s, he drove a £495 Austin Princess with a broken petrol gauge, and he brings Clarkson to tears with his story about trying to overtake a Porsche. His actual lap in the Chevrolet Lacetti is the real highlight here, though. Before the programme, the comic claimed he would be “very fast”, but things didn't quite go to plan.

Back in 2012, McIntyre became the world's most successful comedian, with ticket sales of £21 million from this 71-date tour. And in a hilarious high point for the “Showtime!” set, he looks at the simple confusion that can arise from different spellings of the same Christian name. With the comedian playing party host, he rattles through a stack of similarly named guests - as the scene gets more ridiculous with every passing second.

For a regular section which has since continued on to his “Big Show”, McIntyre borrows a celebrity’s phone and uses it to send an embarrassing text or two. But on this particular occasion, he gets a taste of his own medicine when he and James Corden lock horns. Within minutes, the responses are flooding in. And after hearing some of the replies, we suspect McIntyre was left with his fair share of explaining to do.

When McIntyre launched the DVD of his 2008 “Live & Laughing tour”, it became the fastest-selling debut stand-up release of all time. With routines like this on it, is it any wonder? Describing a drawer at home full of useless items including old batteries and obsolete foreign currency, this skit has become a staple McIntyre gag. Because, are these things as useless as they seem? Maybe not, as McIntyre suggests when imagining a late-night phone call from a mysterious taskmaster.