The same character types have a mysterious habit of recurring in the imterrelated world of wit. WORD decodes the DNA of the comedy gene pool.

1. The Psychedelic Ensemble: The Mighty Boosh are The League of Gentleman, The Goodies, Monty Python, The Goons, The Marx Brothers...

2. The Danger Merchant: Sarah Silverman is Bill Hicks, Jerry Sadowitz, Denis Leary, Lenny Bruce...

3. The Bickering Twosome: Newman and Baddiel were the student Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, the bedsit Sid James and Tony Hancock, the grant-aided Pete and Dud.

4. The Monster of Id: Chris Morris is Peter Cook.

5. The Capering Doofus: Lee Evans is Norman Wison.

6. The Domestic Oddball: Harry Enfield is Stanley Baxter.

7. The Northern Natterer: Peter Kay is Al Read.

8. The Cockney Jack The Lad: Al Murray is Tommy Trinder.

9. The Well-Varnished Professional: Jimmy Carr is Bob Monkhouse.

10. The Charmingly Ladylike: Julian Clary is Danny LaRue.

11. The Considerably Less Ladylike: Matt Lucas is Barry Humphries.

12. The Total Identity Crisis: David Walliams is Frankie Howerd.

13. The Homegrown Dada: Ross Noble is both Spike Milligan and Ken Dodd.

14. The People's Poet: Mark Steel is Ben Elton (Early Years, Spangly Jacket).

15. The Magic Depressives: Both Jack Dee and Paul Merton are Tony Hancock.

16. The Bemused Salt of the Earth: Phill Jupitus is Will Hay.

17. The Erudite Twosome: Fry and Laurie were Flanders and Swann.

18. The Bawdy Rake: Russell Brand is Kenneth Williams plus Sid James.

19. The Loose Cannon: Vic Reeves is Malcolm Hardee plus Jacques Tati and less Eric Morcambe than you think.

20. The Confused Everybloke: Bill Bailey is both Cheech and Chong, plus Jasper Carrott and Spike Milligan.

21. The Scot with a Cob On: Billy Connolly is Chic Murray.

22. The Beanpole Cheesemonger: Vernon Kay is Bruce Forsyth.

23. The Gentle Northern Sage: Johnny Vegas is Les Dawson.

24. The Northern Gobshite: Johnny Vegas is also Freddie Starr.

25. The King of Corn: Michael MacIntyre is Jimmy Tarbuck crossed with Kenneth Williams.

26. The Beloved Homosexualist: Graham Norton is Larry Grayson - plus, inevitably, a bit of Kenneth Williams.

27. The Evolutionary Pinnacle of Comedy: Eddie Izzard is Danny LaRue, plus Spike Milligan plus Peter Cook plus Dick Emery plus Barry Humphries plus Richard Pryor with a soupcon of Denis Leary and - naturally - a whole lot of Kenneth Williams.

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