I don't know if John Kearns has got a new agent but he suddenly seems to be getting some pretty decent high profile TV breaks. He is one of the contestants in the current series of Taskmaster on Channel 4 on Thursdays and this week he is one of the contestants on Richard Osman's House of Games on BBC Two.

You might know Kearns from his assistant-slash-sidekick role in Guessable, alongside Sara Pascoe on Comedy Central, but before that he made Edinburgh Festival Fringe history in 2013 and 2014 by becoming the first performer to win the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer and then the following year winning the prize for Best Show. He deserved both, he's a quirky character in the tradition of Tony Hancock but with a surreal twist.

He often performs dressed as a monk complete with silly wig and comedy teeth. My friend says he is the funniest man since Samuel Beckett, though whether you see that as a compliment depends on how funny you think Samuel Beckett is I suppose.

Kearns is clearly quite smart - before his comedy success he was a guide around the Houses Of Parliament, showing tourists how Westminster worked. If you want to see more of him he has just announced a big tour. Dates here.

Also appearing on this week's show are gardening whizzkid Diarmuid Gavin and Claire Richards from Steps. Plus Antiques Roadshow star Roo Irvine, who runs her own antique shop in Scotland with her husband Mark. She previously revealed on an episode of the podcast, Things I Forgot Were Good For Me, how the sudden loss of both her father and her father-in-law prompted the couple to make a big change to their everyday lives.

Richard Osman's House of Games. Monday, October 10 to Friday, October 14, 6pm, BBC Two.

Pictured left to right Roo Irvine, Diarmuid Gavin, Richrd Osman, John Kearns, Claire Richards: Remarkable Television