Viewers watching Channel 4's Comedy Gala on Bank Holiday Monday were ushered into the second ad break with the following from show host Jonathan Ross...

"We've got a break coming up, but don't go away, because that lovely, naughty but nice Jimmy Carr will be engaging with the adverts of this special gala evening."

There then followed something quite new.

Jimmy Carr wanders through the entire ad break, interacting with and commenting on the ads. His adventure kicked off half way through the Gocompare.com ad - interrupting opera singer Gio Compario's trademark high note with a steely and well aimed grip in an attempt to silence the tenor - and continued with interruptions, comments and appearances in commercials for Churchill, Kerry Low Low cheese, Pokerstars, Specsavers and Guinness.

Not surprisingly, once you'd seen the first ad, you found yourself paying particularly close attention to the next, wondering what Jimmy was going to do with this one. All in all, a very lean forward and jaw-dropping piece of ad engagement - funny, and well made - that fitted brilliantly with the programme in which it aired.

Congratulations to production company Open Mike, the strategic sales team at Channel 4 and to all the advertisers who got involved with the break. Great stuff.

About Channel 4's Comedy Gala

Comedy royalty united for one night only in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital. 25 of the nation's best known and most loved comedians appeared on stage at London's O2 Arena on March 30th. This major event was promoted by Off the Kerb Productions and was filmed by Open Mike Productions

Acts appearing on the night included: Alan Carr, Bill Bailey, David Mitchell, The Fonejacker, Jack Whitehall, Jack Dee, Jason Manford, Jo Brand, John Bishop, Jonathan Ross, Kevin Bridges, Lee Evans, Mark Watson, Michael McIntyre, Noel Fielding, Omid Djalili, Rich Hall, Rob Brydon, Ruth Jones, Sean Lock, and Shappi Khorsandi -making it the biggest live stand up show in UK history. Added to this, Stomp performed two major routines with Alan Carr and Bill Bailey.