Benefit comedy gigs usually generate a certain level of goodwill.

But one in the glorious surrounds of Brighton Open Air Theatre with the tragic backstory of its inspiration Adrian Bunting, beautiful late evening sunshine, bring your own booze and a talent packed bill threatened to break the goodwill-o-meter.

Plummy-voiced patrician host Simon Evans got the night rolling along nicely with his wonderfully acerbic views on parenting, his face radiating joy in his candidness under a seasonally-appropriate Panama hat.

Brighton-based George Egg brought along a suitcase of quick-fire gags, dispensing advice on a hilarious new use for malt loaf before locating a sex toy manufacturer in the audience.

Jo Neary cut a fearless, funny figure with hilarious dance interpretations of Cat Steven’s Moonshadow and Bjork’s take on moving to Sussex while Australian acrobats Head First impressed with their physical ability and physique – interspersing their act with cheeky “sexy and we know it” winks to the audience.

Shane Ritchie proved a good sport with a Freddie Starr-inspired routine willing to take the mickey out of himself almost as much as the audience while headliner Tim Vine was at his quick-fire best giving his audience no time to recover from one pun to the next.

One can only hope all that goodwill translated into pounds in the collection bucket.

Five stars