Still bringing us sunshine, laughter and love 15 years after his death, Eric Morecambe has been named the funniest person of the 20th century.

He easily took first place in a poll ahead of Tommy Cooper, John Cleese, Dawn French and Oxfordshire's Rowan Atkinson.

In his heyday, Eric - with his partner Ernie Wise, who died earlier this year - entertained up to 26 million viewers with their television shows.

The new generation of talent was honoured at the British Comedy Awards on Saturday - but can any of them rival the genius of Morecambe and Wise? Today's comics may not have the television pulling power of Eric and Ernie, but there is a wealth of talent on stage, screen and in comedy clubs at the moment, according to those in the know.

Don Ward, owner of The Comedy Store in London, where big names like French and Saunders, Alexei Sayle and Rik Mayall started out, believes the comedy scene has never been healthier.

"There's a huge amount of talent out there which is right across the spectrum, from Eddie Izzard with his thought bubbles and way of creating comedy, to people like Jack Dee, who is purely stand-up," he said

However, there are times when talent is only fully recognised after the person has died. Five of the ten comedians named the funniest of the 20th century are dead - Eric Morecambe, Charlie Chaplin, Tony Hancock, Tommy Cooper and Benny Hill - and not all were appreciated during their lifetime.

Ward says: "Hancock got knocked in the latter days and died, I think, of a broken heart. Comics are not supposed to be fallible. So enjoy them now - enjoy Eddie Izzard now because he's got great comic ability."

So who is going to be in the running as the funniest 21st century comedian?

Here are some strong contenders:

*Armstrong and Miller Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller's second TV comedy series appeared on Channel 4 over the summer and featured characters and spoofs, including Norwegian rock gods Strijka, a tribute to Peak Practice called Nude Practice and spoof TV detectives Parsons and Lampkin.

*Goodness Gracious Me

The BBC2 comedy was hailed for its hilarious portrayal of the British Asian community, pulling in four million viewers for its last series.

The most famous sketch was the one where a group of Indian yuppies "Go For An English" and order a tableful of bland, tasteless food.

*League of Gentlemen Even though the team only attracted 2.5 million viewers for its first series, the programme won the Golden Rose of Montreux this year and is likely to become a hit. The show features the bizarre antics of a crazy bunch of villagers living in the fictional Royston Vasey.

*Al Murray

Al Murray hit the news recently when he landed a £3m contract with Sky. His hour-long show, which features Murray as a pub landlord who hates the French and thinks white wine is the only suitable drink for a lady, won the Perrier award at Edinburgh this year.

*Simon Pegg This year the 29-year-old actor and writer hit the TV screen in earnest, with Spaced on Channel 4, Hippies on BBC2 and the off-beat sketch review show Big Train.

*Jessica Stevenson

Stevenson is a friend of Caroline Aherne and has appeared in The Royle Family and as a stand-up comedienne. She and Pegg wrote Spaced in just two weeks at her kitchen table and her ex-comedy partner Katy Carmichael appears in the comedy.

*Ed Byrne

The Irish comedian with a special gift for sending himself up. He was a huge hit at the Edinburgh Festival and has been on tour throughout the UK this year. He is also a regular at London's Comedy Store.

Story date: Monday 20 December

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