Back on form with a hat shaped like a fish and a pink kimono trailing an 8ft train, the king of camp innuendo shared frolicsome fun and cheeky filth with a packed hall.

It may have been the Sunday evening vibe but the audience was far more sober than I had expected.

I spied only two flamboyant costumes, heard very little heckling or banter and, when Julian requested members of the audience to play Give It To Julian, which involved two men being invited on stage to battle it out for the star's affections, the spotlight showed the crowds in the front row shrink away rather than jump forward to join in.

Yet confident and determined Julian would not be deterred.

Forced on stage came reluctant, heterosexual Mike, who had the misfortune to be sitting at the end of the front row with his girlfriend, and the more enthusiastic, gay man Martin.

Both were subjected to probing questions, made to read an innuendo-ridden script which led to the removal of Martin's top and Mike's trousers and repeatedly teased and humiliated until Martin won the bottle of vintage champagne and Mike was sent off with a bottle of Toilet Duck.

Although we all felt pity for the two abased volunteers (the hesitancy of all those who refused to leave their seats was soon understood), this exercise gave spice to the show and emphasised its intimate, stand-up nature.

Despite the huge space of the grand venue, the evening was imbued with the cosy, cabaret atmosphere of an underground comedy club.

The use of spotlights, the comforting tinkle of the piano and the chirpy, tongue-in-cheek tunes sung along to energetic, bouncy dancing all combined to create an ambience of friendly, frothy intimacy.

Sidekicks Hugh Jelly (from Sticky Moments) and Gail MacKinnon (singer from the musical Taboo) were fantastic, filling the stage with energy and up-for-it good-natured humour - forever dodging Julian's path so the self-confessed prima donna would not be upstaged.

The Natural Born Mincer himself was superb, somehow managing to be naughty and cheeky while never quite crossing the line into offensiveness and possessing a head-turning, eye-catching stage presence which went beyond the magnificent outfits and props.