...but not necessarily for the best reasons

The Alan Partridge star tops our top 20 comedian of the year, based on page views, but much of the interest is likely to have been generated from reports that his tour was badly-received.

Coogan was booed in Liverpool, and upset many fans who considered early performances of the show under-rehearsed.

News that he was to return to the stage was one of the most-read stories of the year… but so was the one headlined ‘Boos for “lame” Coogan’.

Mock The Week star Frankie Boyle was No 2 in our charts, followed by 6 Music radio presenter Jon Richardson. Newcomer Jack Whitehall was No 4, probably based on his appearances on the Big Brother spin-off show on E4.

The full top 20 most-read comedians’ or tour pages were:

1. Steve Coogan As Alan Partridge And Other Less Successful Characters
2. Frankie Boyle
3. Jon Richardson
4. Jack Whitehall
5. Mark Watson
6. Michael McIntyre
7. Simon Amstell
8. Alan Carr
9. Stephen K Amos
10. Mighty Boosh Live
11. Russell Howard
12. Al Murray
13. Sarah Silverman
14. Brendon Burns
15. Daniel Kitson
16. Lee Evans
17. Dara O Briain
18. Reginald D Hunter
19. Andrew Maxwell
20. Sarah Millican

While the 10 most-read news stories of 2008 were:

1. Simon Pegg furious at Spaced remake March 3
2. Geoffrey Perkins killed in road accident August 29
3. Coogan to tour March 12
4. Stand-up Brandi Borr dies January 5
5. Kids In The Hall are back December 2
6. Sarah Silverman bombs at UK debut October 20
7. Johnny Vegas acts over assault claim May 9
8. Boos for 'lame' Coogan October 17
9. Hundreds vote in Chortle awards January 24
10. Zealot bankrupt by Springer case February 2

Published: 1 Jan 2009