JOHN LAWSON He may have lost his trademark long hair – replaced by a short back and sides a bank manager would be proud of – but it has certainly had no Samsonesque effect on his comic powers.

JOHN LAWSON

He may have lost his trademark long hair – replaced by a short back and sides a bank manager would be proud of – but it has certainly had no Samsonesque effect on his comic powers.

Ed Byrne is one of those rare comedians whose act is permanently accompanied by the sound of a steady wave of laughter. His observational style – on sex, girlfriends, sleeping and tropical fish – were accurate.

Not bad for a man who believes that life is just a distraction to force you to get out of bed.

Pity more of Norwich hadn't bothered to do just that – the audience was disappointingly small. The second night on the trot as it happened.

"What sort of rubbish tour manager puts me on in a 1000 seat venue in Ipswich on Halloween when the town football team's playing?"

Norwich didn't have the same excuse – but you could always help out at King's Lynn Arts Centre tonight to make up for it.

Ed was his own warm-up act – his support, Canadian Jason-John Whitehead was stuck in a train.

He was good value when he did arrive – and I shall always treasure the thought of the Rabbi being a collection of religious knife-wielding rabbits.