"There's no such thing as mental health - it's all in the mind."

Another cracking night at the Malarkey on Tuesday, and the first act onto the stage was a comic who'd stormed it a few weeks previously and was trying out some other material, Rich Davenport.

Rich did a quick five minute set, starting off with imagining what Bob Marley would have been like if he'd have been from Bolton, following by the remainder of the set which was about being a "professional Northerner" (a phrase he picked up from somewhere).

Okay, so it's easy comedy (regional stereotyping) but the crowd took to him (the audience participation helped things along). This combined with his other material should make an entertaining and enjoyable set. He's back in January so I look forward to hearing more.

Next on was throat-infection sufferer Rodney Marques.

Psychiatric nurse Rodney took to the stage with tales of moving back in with his parents, and his childhood. There were some great lines in the set and a few which fell flat, although I think this was partially due to him being ill and it affecting the delivery.

I think the delivery needs to suit the material more, i.e., the material is almost akin to some of Toby's - clever and sniping - but the delivery needs more gusto and anger to really hit home. This is a small niggle, however, and can easily be rectified. Some excellent material.

Dan Musson was the third open spot of the night.

Dan used to do gigs at Murphy's Malarkey (the last one was about a year and a half ago I think). He'd been abroad (in Australia amongst other places) and hadn't set foot on stage since that time so he was understandably nervous.

He started off with a couple of dodgy old jokes (which he admitted to) and went into tales of his trip to Australia. The nerves showed a bit at first but he gradually got into the swing and the set improved as it went on.

Not a bad set but once Dan gets a bit of stage time under his belt he'll improve (he did well when he used to play Murphy's).

After the break was the affable Martin Plant.

Martin came across and confident and easy-going on stage and opened with some good observational comedy about Christmas with some cracking lines - the bit about wrapping wine bottles made me laugh in particular as I've struggled for 20 minutes trying to wrap one of the bastards on more than one occasion. I never learn. There was plenty more besides, with just a hint of Eddie Izzard I thought.

A very good debut gig altogether, especially considering it was his third gig ever.

Penultimate act of the night was an old Malarkey favourite and voice of the Boddington's cow, the fantastic Tony Skip.

I have to say I thought Tony had proabably his best gig yet at Malarkey's. Yes, there was the old familiar material but there was some new stuff (the planned Victoria Beckham kidnap) and plenty of asides and audience banter, and the audience loved it.

Not much more to say really! Tony is an immensely likeable character and an old favourite of the club who'll be back before long.

The final act of the night was the one and only Patrick Monahan.

Patrick has rapidly become one of my favourite comics to have ever played Malarkey's. Not only is he funny, with excellent audience banter skills, he's one of the nicest and most genuine people you could meet.

Much of Patrick's set seems to be improvised which I think is funnier than if he just reeled off material. Although there is material there the audience banter makes for a unique set. He does go off on one sometimes, but I think it's funnier as you don't know what will happen next.

The highlight of the set, though, is the Postman Pat sketch at the end. Superb. This is a comic who is heading for big things.

See you next week.

Spider.