They hold a broadly common passion for progressive politics. Stanhope, a regular on Charlie Brooker's Newswipe, can be brilliant but is also a bit of a self-saboteur, who muddies his own message with abrasive outrage. However, pair him with Thomas - all journalistic rigour, campaign credentials and British charm - and the two could be unstoppable as a comedic political force.  Maria Bamford is no where near as famous as Will Ferrell, but she should be. She has a solid following online and on the US comedy circuit. Yet her humour is so unsettling you often wonder whether to laugh or alert her next of kin. We suspect she'd make a brilliant foil for the Anchorman star - complimenting his non sequiturs and challenging him in ways his mainstream output fails to. One of Ferrell's best SNL skits is the Cheerleaders - Bamford would be like Cheri Oteri on mellow psychedelics. It would be a thing of bizarre beauty.  Comedy's answer to the musical supergroup has a mission. The pair's extensive output - hilarious, provocative and musically compelling in its own right - speaks for itself, yet they represent a comedy genre still readily dismissed as gimmicky. Alone, no musical comic could hope to vanquish this cyclops of stereotypes - myopic yet mighty. United, however, Minchin and Watts could combine their irrefutable old and new school skills to leave no one doubting that politically and socially conscious musical comedians should be taken seriously. Bo Burnham can come too.  On a comedy family tree Ayoade and Bailey would be directly related; not just cousins, more father and son. Both as sharp as they are witty, and presumably already sharing notes on the baffled space wizard look, we think they belong together. Let's forget the traditional funny man vs. straight man formula and send these two polymaths on history's least erotic blind date.  Hey, we said dream teams didn't we? John Oliver recently flew the Daily Show coup to strike out alone with his own topical show. He has said it will involve him " talking about stuff" but those familiar with his inspired satirical insight will not be fooled by this attempted downplay. The eternal master of "talking about stuff" - from the ruling elite to tadpoles - to devastating satirical effect is Peter Cook. If Oliver could recruit from beyond the grave, we'd love to see these two dissect contemporary global politics on a weekly basis.  Those are our fantasy comic pairings. Have we suffered a massive sense of humour failure? Who would you choose?
Fred McConnell: Following news that Louis CK and Zach Galifianakis are developing a TV show together, we put together our fantasy funny pairings