大象传媒

If you're the type of person that finds it difficult to follow complex stories, you might want to take a pen and paper with you when you go and see Ross Noble.

The Geordie stand-up will more than certainly lose you on his twisted path of story telling - infact I'm sure we only had two stories in the whole two hours, but each thread was well and truly explored before returning to the original point.

It's always a good idea to arrive early for a stand-up comedy gig as late comers are easy bait. However, arrive just 10 minutes late at a Ross Noble gig, and you might have trouble following the rest of the show.

This was demonstrated to our late comers with a simple slide along the stage ending in a sailors pose as the Admiral of the Navy organising third party insurance for his tank! (You should now be as confused as they were).

The highly polished surface of the Anvil stage gave endless amusement to Noble as he slid from side to side among his set of specially made plastic flowers that bloomed as he first walked on stage.

It can be difficult enough for a stand-up to deliver material and handle hecklers but the whole of the first half was pure ad-lib sparked from talking to members of the audience.

The Electronics Engineer, the man who left to take a phone call, his mate with a weak bladder (who actually worked with toilet aids for the elderly!) and the accountant (who at first lied and told us he was an explorer), all helped Ross to baffle us with his rather strange and twisted outlook on life ... and love of monkeys.

I don't think I have seen a comedy show with so many different subjects; from tanks to monkeys, catheters, ice cream vending, pigs in German army helmets and tramps talking into beer cans... and that's just a tiny selection of what we discussed.

At one point Ross likens his show to the television series "24" and he is not far wrong. Several different storylines are on the go at once and he will eventually return to them all and finally get to the point.

If however he fails to get to one of the points you can always ask him in the question and answer session he hosts for an encore. Noble's interaction with the audience makes you feel much more involved in the comedy rather than just watching someone reeling off tired observational gags.

Ross is a truly talented performer who could easily do a show with no preparation and I would happily go and see another gig in this tour - confident that I would see a completely different show.