If we've reached the point where the nerdiest kid in the class is really the funniest person in the room, then will the last person out of our culture please turn off the light?

There was lots to like about Will Smith - he was engaging, well rehearsed and at times reasonably insightful. His obsessive devotion to Bergerac and Dire Straits appeared at least to be genuine and he was genuinely amusing at times in a self-deprecating manner.

But is there no one left in this world who despairs when confronted by a headline comedy show which is entirely filled with the minutiae of utterly meaningless trivia?

Smith took his audience on a pointless journey through ten vacuous arguments he should have won, including whether or not he had a girl's bike when he was younger and whether Demi Moore's career is greater than ex-hubby Bruce Willis's.

A frisson of excitement was added by the appearance of one of his ex-Jersey school chums in the audience, but for anyone who has read a newspaper and seen the manner in which our entire civilisation is slipping into the sand, the obvious question is: "Who cares about what you think, you pointless individual?"

Who cares if Dixons is a bad place to buy electronic equipment,or whether it is sane to watch The Return Of The King five times? Who cares if Smith thinks his flatmate is untidy?

The biggest laughs were had from traditional nob gags, like so much of this festival, while meaningful comment and satire was left completely unattended.

Will did squeeze some laughs from this crowd in a Saturday night telly kind of way but, ironically, his show has even less meaning or value to civilisation than Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, or shopping at Dixons.