Anyone arriving halfway through Ken Campbell's appearance at the Catalyst Club could be forgiven for thinking they had walked into a workshop on lunacy.

Men and women wailing on stage one minute and shouting obscenities at a full house the next.

It made for a truly unusual and entertaining spectacle.

For those who do not know, the Catalyst Club is a monthly night at which people talk about the subject which most interests them.

For Campbell, the popular actor and comedian who appeared in Fawlty Towers and has toured with his own one-man show, that topic is improvisation.

It didn't make for the most auspicious starts when the club's first celebrity speaker said he wanted to discuss non-scripted performance for an hour.

But in the spirit of the night you just have to go with it and see where it takes you. And the answer is just about anywhere.

Volunteers took on different personas, emotions and acting styles at Campbell's bidding after taking part in one of his improvisation classes the night before the show.

Homeric epics, operas and Shakespearean sonnets were all tried and tested with varying success, creating the atmosphere of a live workshop.

Campbell wanted his audience entertained and failing efforts were quickly dismissed with better pieces allowed to develop.

Non-scripted theatre - it hardly sounds exciting but Campbell proved just how great his passion could be.