Alfie Brown captured the imagination in Edinburgh last year with a particularly candid show that touched on his relationship with the mother of his children, performer Jessie Cave. It was even more interesting because she was also doing a full run in 2018 which touched on her take on the relationship. This year Brown is back with a show called Imagination that still occasionally lingers on his thoughts about fidelity in the modern era, but also takes a look at wider aspects of modern culture.

Given that most comedians are sticking Brexit material into their act faster than you can say “Conservative minority” it is quite canny of broadcaster Viceland to come up with the four-part Brexit Stage Left, in which a group of comics – Jamali Maddix, Alfie Brown, Fern Brady and Sean McLoughlin – travel to Europe to see what we are going to be missing in a few years and also get to do a gig.

Alfie Brown is different to other comedians. I thought that the first time I saw him and he spent much of his set arguing about whether he was being sexist with his audience. He is painfully, brutally honest, baring his soul onstage, but always in a very funny way. In fact just to underline that honesty, he is the first person to answer my question below about earnings by coming up with an actual figure. Though maybe he needs to have a chat with his agent.

What's in a name? When Debbie Harry decided she wanted to be taken seriously as a musician she started calling herself Deborah Harry. When Rob Newman decided he wanted to be seen as a more mature comedian he started being billed as Robert Newman. But it is probably Newman's material more than his monicker that has cast him in a new light.