Rob Brydon started off with a routine about nearly missing his son’s birth – because he was on the golf course with Ronnie Corbett.
From my point of view Brydon comes out as jaw-droppingly callous – but even though I’d heard about the story before, the way he told it was hilarious.
Brydon is an amazingly good mimic, and when portraying the Strictly Come Dancing judges evaluating his sexual performance, his Len Goodman and especially his Bruno Tonioli were unexpectedly brilliant.
He controlled the audience like a good humoured headmaster – although not many headmasters would play an imaginary ball game in character as Pingu.
Brydon went from set pieces to pinpointing key demographics of his fanbase – the middle classes, youngsters, older people, the Welsh, then finding examples in the audience to interact with. He veered between kind and cutting – not quite sticking the knife in, but nonetheless drawing a little blood, then saying “You’re very welcome”.
He is obviously (and justifiably) proud of his singing voice – ending, Des O’Connor style, with karaoke versions of Islands In The Stream, then Sweet Caroline. It did make me feel a bit like an OAP on a coach trip, but the rest of the evening made up for it.
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