Review by Steve Bennett

Martin 'Bigpig' Mor has been around a bit and it shows. He played to an audience with the house lights full up, which is not normally advisable, yet made the act seem intimate, effortless and spontaneous, brilliantly controlling four potentially disruptive drunks in the front row by variously ignoring, integrating and flattering them.

Martin's show is structured round the six categories in Trivial Pursuit because, he sayss, the board game actually features an old performance photograph of him in the pink section from his circus days.

Martin is so experienced and so relaxed that he can cope with anything and can integrate random factors into the act. Spotting a woman in the audience with a long white scarf, he wrapped it round his head and, the owner of an extravagant long beard, he ad-libbed a routine about Osama Bin Laden. If this was an audience plant, it was impeccably done.

It is a sign of his professionalism that it was impossible to spot the joins between what was scripted, what was genuinely ad-libbed and what was adapted from old routines.

At the peak of his abilities, Martin can soar off audience reaction and create comedy from serendipity. This is a top-notch, feel-good show and the full house roared their approval. He would have got four stars except for two pointless videotaped inserts which were unnecessary in such a great live stand-up act.

Review date: 1 Aug 2006
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett