"You've actually played for Holland?"

Eric Another stand-in compere this week in the form of Malarkey stalwart Jason 'Entertainment' Cook. First onto the stage was a London comic making his Malarkey debut, the mysteriously-titled Eric.

Eric had a fairly laid-back delivery but seemed confident enough on stage. His style was largely observational, with one or two asides for crowd banter. There were a few clever quips in there and the laid-back style does suit him but I prefer comics who put a bit of energy into their set (unless of course it's a deadpan style such as Anthony J Brown). A Liz Stephens decent enough start to the show though.

Next on, another XS Malarkey debut, was Liz Stephens.

Liz's observational material ranged from subjects such as sunbathing goths to having shit toys as a child, and there were some good ideas in there but I didn't think the delivery had quite the punch the material deserved. There were plenty of laughs in there but it was a bit muted. Not too bad though.

Paddy Lennox Third onto the Malarkey stage was Northern Irish comic Paddy Lennox.

Paddy, in my opinion, was one of the best comics of the night. Twisted, surreal observations and some great punchlines coupled with great delivery and good timing went together to make a great set which went down well with the crowd. One of those comics where you think of their material, "Fuck! I wish I'd thought of that!" He'll be back before long I'm sure.

Nat Coombs After the break came yet another Malarkey debut, this time for Nat Coombs.

Nat's material was okay, quite good in parts, but some bits were a bit hit and miss. The delivery was confident enough, if a little bit breathless, but all in all he went down fairly well with the crowd. Some of the subject matter wasn't exactly original (George Bush) although there were some valid points made, so fair do's.

Nik Coppin The comedy moved up a gear when London comic Nik Coppin took to the stage.

Nik has played Malarkey's before and I think he's developed his act since he was last here, with a slick delivery and some great punchlines. One of my favourite lines was about people claiming damages for flashbacks suffered after car accidents: "Where I come from, that's called a memory." A good, solid act which the crowd enjoyed.

Caimh McDonnell Main supporter of the night was Dublin comic Caimh McDonnell.

Caimh's set consisted of tales of his Irish background coupled with observations and topical material. Line of the night: "The only thing Gareth Gates and Elvis have in common is the last thing they produced was shite." A good set from a good comic. Hopefully next time Caimh plays Malarkey's he'll bring the excellent Gary Delaney with him.

Brendan Riley Tonight's headliner was one of my favourite comics, the excellent Brendan Riley.

Brendan started off with a bit of material about the Yank marine running off with the 12-year-old girl ("How ugly is that 12-year-old girl?"), which I thought was brilliant as it was only just in the news. God save us from people who say, "Ooh, you can't say that, it's insensitive." and then are cracking jokes about it two weeks later after it's died down. The rest of the set was brilliant as usual - shame he didn't do the blackboard thing where the audience pick what they want him to talk about, but at least I saw it in Edinburgh. Top, top stuff.

See you next week.

Spider.