The phrase "comic genius" is used all too often. However, it is the only way to describe the unnervingly funny Ross Noble.

Stalking onstage looking like a curly-haired sloth, the amiable, 26-year-old Geordie shot straight into cracking up the audience by doing little more than talking absolute rubbish.

Of course, that's what every comedian on the circuit does but Noble talked codswallop on an awe-inspiring level.

Careering between his theory about why the West Pier fell (Chris Eubank's tweed stockpile did it), the correct pronunciation of Colin Powell and the effects of tying huskies to bungee cords, taking in an impressive array of naff accents along the way, Noble took digression to new heights.

He went off at tangents and returned to the point like a heat-seeking missile in a comedy canyon.

"My mind doesn't wander, it goes on a caravanning holiday," he said of his box of sprockets-like brain.

But then this freestyle banter is the very backbone of his act.

Going on stage with little idea of where the evening would take him, Noble embarked on an odyssey of gags that led nowhere yet still came to a satisfying conclusion.

Weaving comedy gold out of seemingly worthless ideas, he wrung every potential laugh out of a situation before moving on and then suddenly shifting back as his inspired mind tapped into another vein of hilarity.

His obsessive nature came across as, once he picked something up, he couldn't let it go- even going so far as to return to the subject 30 minutes later.

At one point, he continued talking about his love of digital TV, in particular The God Channel, after the interval and long since the audience had forgotten about it.

The only criticism, and a minor one at that, is the quality of Noble's prepared gags - what little there are of them.

He is a comedian who specialises in the moment, taking inspiration from whatever he is presented with and running with it.

As a consequence, his stock of stories, while of enviably high quality, did lack the spontaneity of the rest of his act.

However, this was still a man at the top of his game. Assured, confident and way ahead of the pack, Noble is a comic to be treasured.