COMEDIAN Mark Watson is that lovely chap who always seems slightly apologetic and stutters through his very nice act when you catch him on the telly.

He usually wears glasses so when he came on stage at the Worthing Connaught on Friday without them he had to apologise in case we didn’t recognise him – and for the fact that he couldn’t see very far into the audience.

It was apparently a long story. He’s just gone through a divorce and he’s lost them, but whether the two are related is another matter.

It turned out the divorce, which he said he wouldn’t talk about, kept cropping up throughout the show.  Though to be honest, desperate for the gory details as we all are, we didn’t really find out much about it. Other than he needs some cash, misses his children and has a half share of the cat.

It was funny and frustrating at the same time because I wanted to hear proper anecdotes but also respect him for not falling into “my ex-wife didn’t understand me” stuff.

He’s too clever and middle-class to fall into that sexist rabbit-hole but the show did lack some bite. 

I heard someone say: “He hasn’t really got going.” And he didn’t really ever get going, which is part of the charm and part of the problem.

As he races through a range of topics, from the difficulties of connecting with people, watching ET with his son, his terrible experience at Center Parcs and how he’s been voted one of the “50 sexiest Jews on Twitter” (although he’s not actually Jewish), I found myself longing for him to stick with one of the subjects and really get to grips with it.

It feels wrong to criticise as it was a lovely evening with lots of laughs. He’s such a nice chap, I feel awful for complaining even a little bit.

Caroline Sutton