CHRISTMAS cheer was flowing freely as Pappy’s returned to its spiritual Brighton home to mark the festive season.

Like a small boy on Christmas Eve, Tom Parry was tremendously over-excited, blundering through sketches that left his comedy teammates Matthew Crosby and Ben Clark open-mouthed or corpsing uncontrollably.

His opening Santa-as-God sketch started off well but descended into anarchy – an anarchy which never really let up throughout the old and new skits, which were tied together with a very loose Christmas Carol-type theme.

As ever the team’s endearingly amateur approach to a comedy show carried them through, although it was clear at certain moments nobody knew what was going to happen next.

Guests included an Advocaat-swigging Josh Widdicombe, who started his set strongly but gradually became overwhelmed by the chaos.

It was up to the powerhouse that was Nick Helm to save the day; combining comic songs and bellowed jokes with harangues at the crowd, eventually dragging the entire audience onstage to sing his closing song.

A quick burst of Silent Night from the stage-bound audience saw arguably Pappy’s most unusual visit to Brighton draw to a close and fill the room with something akin to a festive spirit – albeit tinged with a certain confusion.