MTV LOL: Some comedians in some music videos

Comedians: there's nary a group of people who you can put a camera on and expect to dick about so comprehensively. It's therefore not very surprising that they are a go-to source of entertainment for music video directors everywhere. Here are the eleven best (read: we only found twelve and didn't want to put Oasis in twice) videos for your consumption.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT CORNER: we didn't bother including charity singles because we'd have been here for WEEKS.

Tom Rosenthal – Lights are on but nobody's home, starring...JOSIE LONG

Tom Rosenthal – nao, not THAT Tom Rosenthal, a singer/songwriter called Tom Rosenthal – wrote a rather serious song, but Josie Long decided to do some larking about in the park to illustrate it. She's the knitted comedian who just wants to touch up people on a bench, but as we all know, it doesn't count as harassment if you do it with a nerdy enough vibe and smile a bit. 

Leisure Society – This Phantom Life, starring...MARK HEAP

Mark Heap in full-on hippie mode, complete with pastel-colour clothes, what appears to be five rhythms dancing, and some RUDDY FLUTES. He's highly serene, while retaining the air of a man at the end of his nerve who's about to snap (ie, Brian from Spaced). Quite a good song, actually.  

Three Trapped Tigers – Reset, starring...MATT BERRY

Intense track is made no less intense by a dense video following cyberpontiff Berry presiding over an animated creation myth. We're really not kidding about the 'intense' bit of the equation but good grief it is something to behold. How has this video only got 40,000 views on YouTube? Weird.

Hot Chip – I Feel Better, starring...ROSS LEE

Embedding is disabled so you'll have to click here, like some kind of animal.  

Hot Chip do some larky videos and this one, directed by Peter Serafinowicz, tops the larky charts.  Reality TV spoofs have been done to death but this brings something new to the table, starring Ross Lee as the alien with a spark in his eye. VERY HOT BAND. Bonus comedy Hot Chip: Serafinowicz again, this time directing Reggie Watts. 

Slow Club – Giving Up On Love, starring...MACKENZIE CROOK

Crook taps into the fairground layabout vibe his contemporary look chimes with, lip-syncing along to dance-around-your-indie-handbags band Slow Club. Intense, in an 'in the gutter looking at the stars' sort of way.

Little Man Tate – This Must Be Love, starring...LIZ SMITH

Set your boredom levels to high. It seems a fair bet that this video wouldn't have six-figure ratings on YouTube without Liz Smith in the video. Admittedly, she's asleep through the whole thing (an appropriate response to Little man Tate). But what the heck else could be the reason?

Midfield General – Midfielding, starring...NOEL FIELDING

Pre-Boosh Fielding rambles over a Midfield General track. NOW STRICTLY SPEAKING Fielding isn't in the video but narrates it. And the track is still considerably better than the video. But it seems to have been utterly forgotten (cues complaint from the Velvet Onion), so here it is. 

Shakin' Stevens – What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For, starring...VIC REEVES

We're a little bit proud of this find: a pre-famous Vic Reeves pops up at 1:36 of this video for Wales's answer to Elvis. It has a three-figure viewing audience on YouTube and no-one's commented yet. We've been tabbing around quite a lot and lost the details of where we found this, which is as close as you get to original research in this day and age.

Seona Dancing – Bitter Heart, starring...RICKY GERVAIS

Utterly cheating, this, being Ricky Gervais's old band from the eighties, but goodness it doesn't get boring. Also: he was clearly well fit, back in the day.

Oasis – Lyla, apparently starring...PAUL MCCAFFREY

Here's a tough one: the internet says Paul McCaffrey is in this video, but I'll be buggered if I can find it. We've asked Paul on the Twitters. Anyone else care to play a game of Where's Paul McCaffrey?

UPDATE: Paul got in touch to say that, yes, he is that video, but only very briefly. HOWEVER he's also in the video for Lackey by the Libertines for a long old time...

Kate Bush – Experiment IV, starring...HUGH LAURIE and DAWN FRENCH

Hugh Laurie and a BLONDE Dawn French are scientists in the eighties. Isn't it weird how Hugh Laurie hasn't particularly aged in 25 years? Must have been all that rowing. Bonus Laurie: him in full-on Blackadder mode, along with John Malkovitch, in Annie Lennox – Walking on Broken Glass.