Rob Beckett at Birmingham Town Hall - review

Sleeves. Sleeves are disappearing for another year as sun-starved Midlanders try to grab as many rays as possible before May, June, July, August and September become the usual damp squibs of disappointment they are.

And the third, largest tell-tale sign of all is day drinking. Yes, beer gardens thrive when the sun comes out. People relegate that hoovering and ironing and feeding of children to secondary importance behind sticking the shades on and getting trollied with friends.

As a result, evening shows like this on a Saturday where people have been downing alcohol all day can get interesting. Who knows what heckles and crowd participation is going to happen when everyone has a full tank (and bladder) to contend with.

Luckily, Rob Beckett and his pal Lloyd Griffith are capable of handling such situations, providing you don't accidentally give an inappropriate nickname to a 21-year- old girl sat in the front row.

Griffith was our warm-up as ever, his firm friendship with Beckett providing part of the material. We have caught these two together before, in Wolverhampton's Slade Rooms. And while Griffith's material is largely similar to then it in no way diminishes it.

When he reveals his day job still brings about the same amount of laughs and quizzical looks, while his impressions segment will have you wishing you had such a party trick to pull out at dull family gatherings.

Beckett had a lot to tell us about. He is recently married, recently a new father, and his life is changing so quickly around him he knows he can throw his stories out there and a majority of the audience will be able to relate to them.

Class differences still play a part too – this time when he explains the differences between a traditional Beckett family Christmas and how is more well-to- do in-laws like to do things.

His likeable character still earns him fans. His ability and willingness to mock his physical appearance and shortcomings in the home life department earn laughs, while his stories about learning to cope with fatherhood and marriage earned him friends across the crowd.

People had still been drinking throughout the show of course, so poor Rob had to put up with nonsensical, chaotic heckling from start to finish. And he did with some aplomb.

We look forward to seeing him again. When hopefully he will have proved equally as inept as the father of a toddler and we can have another right old laugh at his misfortunes. Trollied, of course.

By Leigh Sanders