Norwich Playhouse

> Playhouse, Norwich

A flash of blue. A rhune-like chalk circle. Darkness, then a low voice. It's the day after the seventh of the seventh in London. I wake at 12 noon. Why?

This was the tingle-making opening for a show by a man who is not only one of our most famous stand-ups, but also, currently, our most controversial man of the theatre.

Stewart Lee. One of the brains behind the ill fated Jerry Springer, the Opera, which, 'though a West End hit, never toured the provinces due to the actions of a Christian pressure group.

So perhaps it's little wonder, that religion, superstition, and odd goings on all feature as he tells the tale of his extraordinary year.

Winter: labelled a blasphemer, goes slightly mad; spring: home to his mum where, reeling home drunk, he meets Jesus with Robert Powell's face; summer: plays Lincoln where the audience keep heckling strange animal noises and then the day after the 7th of 7th, he wakes at noon and switches on his email to find people from all over the world asking him: are you all right, apparently by coincidence.

What with Al quaida, London Bombs and a general air of mistrust, these are strange times for all of us. Lee gave voice to a Zeitgeist. And it chilled me through the laughter