Funz And Gamez, the live comedy format that won the Panel Prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2014, is to be piloted for television.

Devised by comedian Phil Ellis, the comedy is presented as a show for children, however - due to the inappropriate nature of the hosts - the comedy is equally aimed at an adult audience.

The show is hosted by Ellis - who plays a broke children's entertainer - and is assisted by a 'child-hating' keyboard playing dog, an inappropriate clown, a sinister elf and 'Uncle Mick'. The characters are portrayed by Will Duggan, Tom Short, James Meehan and Mick Ferry.

Much of the comedy is derived from the fact that the children in the audience don't realise how inappropriate some of the humour is. For example, t-shirts handed out as prizes feature rude words and the children are set games they can't hope to win.

Time Out's review notes: "It seems cruel on paper, but while the nippers are momentarily disappointed at losing an arm-wrestling match or staring competition, they're also given free rein to be naughty, squirting water pistols at a man barely dressed as a pooch and pelting colourful balls at a lame elf."

Funz And Gamez quickly became a word-of-mouth hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, and soon adults without children were booking tickets too. The Times noted: "You're in a kids' show and the room is heaving. Yet for the 15 children here there are about 150 adults, including a notable contingent of comedians. How can that be? Because you're in Funz And Gamez, the antihero of kids' shows, which is one of the funniest, buzziest hours of the Edinburgh Fringe."

The Guardian analysed: "The laughs often spring from the innocence of the children's response. But if that sounds exploitative - well, the show's so silly, and so permissive, the littl'uns are always having as much fun as we are."

The show picked up multiple four star reviews at the festival. The Independent called it "possibly the funniest, strangest, darkest show on the Fringe"; Beyond The Joke described the format as "fantastically well done"; and Time Out noted that the adults in the audience were often "in hysterics".

Following a sell-out run at the Soho Theatre, the format will now be piloted for television by BBC Three.

As first spotted by Giggle Beats, the BBC has put out a request for families to take part in the recording. The details explain: "We're looking for fun families with children aged between 9 and 14 to be in our audience."

The pilot will be filmed in Manchester on Wednesday 25th March. It is thought the pilot is not intended to be broadcast on television.

Below is footage from the show's Edinburgh run, featuring the opening song: