Lee Mack’s latest tour has been much anticipated; one of the biggest names on the circuit, his show at the New Theatre last week had been sold out for ages. Understandably so. A bit older at 40 than the average stand-up, he could teach a few of them how to command a stage. Mack never stops moving, constantly striding from one side to another, his face marvellously alive. He has a ‘cheeky-chappie’ personality, his eyes always challenging you naughtily. This may come from his beginnings as a Bluecoat at Pontin’s, but more likely from his many TV appearances – even in an auditorium the size of the New Theatre, you can tell he does close-ups well.

He is also very quick. When a front-row victim told him she was a nurse at the Churchill, Mack was immediately off into a very funny ‘Winston’ insurance dog riff. “How old are you?” he asked a woman; “40ish? Sorry, this joke won’t work now – I thought you were older!” Another audience answer launched him into a hilarious foul-mouthed Bruce Forsyth.

The prepared stuff also worked well: “I was in the Queen’s Head the other day – Prince Philip wasn’t happy!”; “Isn’t University Challenge getting difficult? The other day I answered ‘Henry the Eighth’ to a question when it should have been ‘nitrogen’”; “Anne Robinson has a massive bulldog clip at the back of her head: if you took it off she’d look like Harry Redknapp!”

His delivery is always amiable and confident, although he can be sharp in double-edged riposte: when he mentioned the name Michael Jackson, an audience member giggled: “Don’t laugh, bitch! This is serious!” Then, changing pace, into a series of questions involving computers and foreigners: “Have you tried disabling cookies? I once bit the legs off a gingerbread man”, or “The things those French do – putting the letter ‘C’ on the hot tap!”

I think his success comes down to the fact that he really seems to enjoy himself on stage, and communicates that fact in classy fashion to his audience.