How Michael McIntyre went from comedy superstardom to game show purgatory

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. During the Noughties British comedy boom, when stand-up suddenly became fodder for stadium tours and primetime TV roadshows, there was no one bigger – McIntyre’s inoffensive, observation-led, overwhelmingly middle-class routines took the nation by storm. The Wheel – in which McIntyre corrals contestants through a quiz, and celebrity guests help them out – was, just a few short years ago, a key part of the BBC’s Christmas Day lineup. Times have moved on, and McIntyre’s material – while obviously a far cry from the sort of problematic jokes of, say, a Roy Chubby Brown – has quietly aged poorly. Down-at-wheel: Michael McIntyre hosting ‘The Wheel’ on BBC One If you want to see for yourself proof of McIntyre’s slide into cultural irrelevance, then you needn’t look further than the country’s burgeoning comedy scene.