The Comedy Store

EMMA LEE

We probably said it the first time, but we'll say it again…a funny thing didn't happen on the way to the Forum last night, it happened inside, as the Comedy Store at the Forum celebrated its first birthday.

The night saw Richard Morton do the full comedy circle. Having MC'd the first show in 2002, last night he was back as the headline act.

This time, MC was Andre Vincent, who writes for Jonathan Ross. He described himself as a cross between Phil Jupitus, Chris Moyles and Toadfish from Neighbours, and likened the Forum to the glass box David Blaine is spending 44 nights in.

First up was Jeff Innocent, an Eastender who came to East Anglia. His daughter has described him as a bouncer at a gay country and western evening. With the back drop of the Forum as it was, he described himself as a fascist at a Nuremberg rally.

In the second act was mild-mannered Sean Collins, a former child councillor for Canada, a self-confessed loner at school. On paper, he didn't sound like a barrel of laughs, but with the Comedy Store, you never know.