Johnny Vegas hit Nottingham with a rip-roaring run through of new material for a DVD being shot in Benidorm later this year.

He mostly hit the mark and only the late hour and lack of buses home distracted an appreciative audience.

His delivery - ranging from shouting at his audience to a sobbing plead for their pity - made for a few uncomfortable moments, not least for the victims in the crowd who became drawn into the show.

But his strength lay in his expletive-filled manic, yet traditional, approach.

There was a variation on the "I wouldn't say I had it tough as a kid" line -- his opening gambit was "Were you thrown out of home for saying 'Dad'?" -- with the narrative returning to his deprived childhood.

Like the time his mum dated one of those sprayed-silver street performers who stand like statues. This one was heavily tattooed and she spent the night rubbing at him with a 50p piece, thinking he was a scratchcard.

Or the time she left home, and being illiterate left him a flip-book with pictures explaining why. There was an eight-page pamphlet for his dad, with content too rude for a family newspaper...

And then there was the gag with a tag line that went: "I knew something was wrong when I felt the explosion set off inside me." Don't ask.

Or the trip to a sex club which took him to a rather peaceful scenario that resembled "hook-a-duck". A carefully crafted story that quite rightly brought the house down.

Johnny Vegas plays his second show at Just The Tonic at The Approach, Friar Lane, tonight.

PATRICK ASTILL