Silky's done it again. The bespectacled Liverpudlian doyenne of Oxford's comedy scene promised us a Mystery Guest for the last monthly Bullingdon club before the summer break, informing Daily Info tantalisingly that if we published who it was, said Guest wouldn't appear. Well, we didn't, and, sho' nuff, he showed. A highly privileged audience was treated to two hours of Geordie superstar Ross Noble, in his last gig for 'real people' before he dashed off to play to huge venues at the Edinburgh Festival and go on to a run in the West End.

Silky was unsurprisingly on ultra-fine compering form, and reasonably solid support was forthcoming in the first half from cockney magician/comedian/actor Danny Buckler. However funny Star Wars references, a trick with some fish on strings and tales of running to refill a London parking meter dressed as Superman can be, I'm afraid they were always slightly doomed to pale into insignificance alongside the anecdotes of a man who thinks constantly about monkeys. (Not in a dubious way, mind - it's just - well - monkeys, they're brilliant, aren't they?) Having said this, when the man whose everyday identity is apparently 'Mr Noodles the kids' magician' conducts a lengthy Houdiniesque escape from The Chains of Doom without the use of The Keys of Hell, it is tricky (no pun intended) not to be impressed. Unfortunately, it's also intriguing to occasionally wonder why he doesn't stick to the day job.

Reminiscent of nothing so much as a Geordie version of Paul Whitehouse's 'Brilliant!' Fast Show character, Noble bounds about the stage like a long-haired rabbit on speed. Some of the audience just didn't appreciate his hilariously rambling tangential spoutings, unfortunately, staring like lost and gormless sheep whilst Noble invented sex shops and their owners behind the stage, devised a new kind of handshake involving a pig with a spiky hat and hypothesised about the ability of brillo-pad knickers to heat up waffles via a process known as "shiffling". (This is, after all, a man who's been on late-night Radio Four with his own programme about Belgium.)

To be fair to the confused, however, it can be tough for an audience to keep up with the speed of a good comic's thought processes, and with Noble (and Silky too) it's easy to fall behind if your attention wanes for a second (or if you've had a few). To be less fair, some people just don't like his 'crrraaazzeee' style, and that's their loss. The man's great. After a gruelling, fairly long and physical set of seemingly unconnected comedy tripe, he tied most of the innard-like threads he'd established into one neat and ingenious lower intestine of a scenario involving the alien abduction of a man called Reg that had the majority of the audience (even the confused) in stitches.

Gutted you weren't there on the 30th? Check out www.rossnoble.co.uk for info on where to catch him next and a heck of a lot more - and keep one eye on Daily Info in September for listings for the next season at the Bully. Who knows who that next 'Mystery Guest' might be...

Su Jordan, 31.07.03