This week's edition of Michael McIntyre's The Wheel features Omid Djalili, Stacey Dooley, Oti Mabuse, Asim Chaudhry, Ricky Wilson and Joey Essex. But it's fair to say that the guest who is really on a roll at the moment is stand-up comedian Maisie Adam. She comes to the show hot on the heels of triumphing in the latest series of Taskmaster on Channel 4 on Thursday night.
This is just the latest success in a career that has seen the Yorkshire-born, Brighton-based comic rise swiftly through the stand-up ranks. I first saw Adam when I was a judge at the So You Think You're Funny competition at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017. She was head and shoulders over the other finalists and not just because she is 5 foot 11 inches. Even back then when she was still in her early twenties it was clear that Adam had a natural flair for storytelling and an assured, brilliant eye for comic detail.
She doesn't exactly come from a showbiz family, but her mother Jill is a one-time punk rocker who puts on the Louder Than Words festival in Manchester every year, where musicians talk about their books and careers.
As for Maisie Adam's career it feels pretty unstoppable now. She has made her mark with her quick wit as well as her unusual hairstyle - out of boredom during lockdown she shaved it at the back and kept the fringe. She is now married and 31 and has gone for a relatively sensible slightly spiky blonde hairstyle. The only problem now is that family members have commented on her resemblance to Rod Stewart,.
She is one of the hardest working comedians around as well as one of the most in demand, though she does manage to find time to watch football - though even there she has mixed her obsession with her career, regularly appearing on sports programmes such as A League Of Their Own and Soccar Aid For UNICEF and co-hosting the hit Big Kick Energy podcast with Suzi Ruffell. Take a listen, it's funny even if you aren't a football fan.
2026 is set to be another big year for Adam. She is heading back on the road for her biggest tour yet, entitled Whatsherface, which was a genuine description given by her best friend’s mum at a wedding this year. The tour starts in September - details here. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Maisie Adam on our screens between now and then - she has already been confirmed as one of the contestants on the upcoming second season of Last One Laughing UK.
Michael McIntyre's The Wheel With Maisie Adam, Omid Djalili, Stacey Dooley, Oti Mabuse, Asim Chaudhry, Ricky Wilson and Joey Essex. Saturday, November 15, 8pm, BBC One.
Picture: Credit: BBC/Hungry McBear/Gary Moyes
