Review by Steve Bennett

Call most people 'a parrot-faced twat' and you might expect a punch in the throat. Martin Davis puts it on his CV.

For this lively comic's distinctive features are perhaps his greatest asset - and certainly the source for plenty of material. Visually, at least, you could say he was born to be a comic.

Thankfully, though, Davis's talents go more than a little further than looking a bit odd. For, as well as 'twat', the Viz reviewer his biography quotes also, and quite rightly, used the adjective 'hilarious'.

Objectively, it's a little hard to see why, but he is. He has a reluctance to stick to material and an even bigger dread of structure. Instead, he trades sometimes quite hard-edged banter with the audience - his attention flipping from table to table, selecting likely punters to be on the receiving a well-aimed quip.

Individually, each line doesn't really amount to much. But Davis's brilliant talent is in whisking all these inconsequential exchanges into an electrified atmosphere, charged with laughter.

He's a natural born compere - though his schtick works pretty well as a stand-alone set, too. He makes it look so easy - and there cannot be a much more difficult achievement than that.

Review date: 1 Mar 2002
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett