Lee Mack ia a man of hidden depths. We all know he is one of the funniest stand-ups around but did you know that this ex-holiday camp rep who wanted to be a jockey is also a vegan and interested in buddhism? He's full of surprises. And maybe the biggest surprise is his success as a primetime quiz show host on The 1% Club, which is currently on a pre-Christmas nightly run.

Or maybe it is not such a surprise. The format, in which Mack tackles a hundred contestants at the same time gives him a chance to show off his lightning fast wit. They call it crowdwork in stand-up and perhaps this is the ultimate crowdwork. Riffing spontaneously off whatever any contestant says. Whatever they say he has a whipsmart response.

It was maybe no shock then to see Mack cast in an episode of Inside No 9 where he played a...quiz show host. In the fictional show within a show entitled 3x3 Mack was allowed to write his own material so the show - which pretended to be a pilot dropped into the schedules at the last minute to fill a gap – really did seem like a real quiz show. The only difference was that this being Inside No 9 it ended with one of the contestants' heads exploding.

Mack is also a star of the very long-running Not Going Out. And this Christmas he pops up on Sky in Bad Tidings, a one-off comedy in which he co-stars with that other man of the moment Chris McCausland. Eagle-eyed viewers will recall that McCausland guested in an episode of Not Going Out and before that the twosome were a brilliant double act at the Baftas. Watch the clip below to remind yourselves of their perfect chemistry.

Is there anything Lee Mack can't do? He acts, he does stand-up and he fronts a quiz superbly. What next for Mack in 2025? Classical theatre? Oh, he did that a few years ago when I saw him in the Moliere play The Miser alongside Griff Rhys Jones in the West End.

Watch Lee Mack and Chris McCausland below

The 1% Club, nightly on ITV1 at 9pm until December 12.

Picture: ITV