Rob Brydon conquering all worlds

His success as a stand-up isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Rob Brydon.

But despite wracking up an impressive catalogue of television work the Welsh star proved he was just as at home on the stage when he performed at Birmingham Symphony Hall.

His appearances on Gavin and Stacey and Would I Lie To You helped him draw a diverse audience from students to sixty somethings, and despite the mixed nature of the crowd everyone was chuckling along to his jokes.

Those who expect his stand up to be based on his popular Gavin And Stacey character Uncle Bryn could be disappointed (although he does make a brief appearance in the second half) but this tour shows he has got plenty of his own material to draw from.

He is not one of those comedians who bangs out the jokes but rather sets up longer stories, drawing on his personal life including the birth of his fourth child.

And he was also keen to show off his vocal skills, in the wake of his recent number one success with the charity single Islands In The Stream with Gavin and Stacey co-star Ruth Jones. There were a number of decent Tom Jones impressions and towards the end of the show he brought on a guitarist as he launched into a song based on the lives of members of the audience he had spoken to during the evening.

Judging by the reaction of the crowd as they left at the end of the night, it seems that as well as conquering the worlds of acting and singing he can now add stand-up to that list.

By Helen Cartwright.