'My one night stand-up'

Richard Pryor he ain't

What's it like to get up in front of a room full of people and try to make them laugh, for the first time? At 72, Magazine columnist Laurie Taylor took a belated and brief plunge into the notoriously tough world of that stand-up comedy.

All four of us are sitting in a straight line in the front row. Sitting up very stiffly and very formally compared with the hundreds of other relaxed chattering people who are crammed into the auditorium of the Comedy Cafe.

We're all within touching distance of the bare stage which each of us is shortly about to occupy as part of Comic Relief's new wheeze for raising money - Stand-Up With The Stars.

When I first took the phone call from the producer it seemed a very simple business. "All you have to do," she told me, "is prepare a five-minute stand-up routine. You'll be with three other Radio 4 presenters and each of you will get a helping hand from a professional stand-up.

FIND OUT MORE... Stand-Up With The Stars is on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 8 March at 1330 GMT Or download the free podcast

"Your mentor will be Shappi Khorsandi. You know, the Iranian comedian. There'll be a try-out run before family and friends and then the final test in front of a real audience at the Comedy Caf