It must be at least a couple of years since the Stand Comedy Club ran it's gay and gay-friendly nights entitled OOT, so it was with more than a little interest that we noticed these nights were back on the bill of fare, now entitled OOT II - The Second Coming and featuring the effervescent Craig Hill as mine host ably supported by the irrepressible Jill Peacock.

Attending the first of these Sheila and I were pleased to see that we were not alone in welcoming them back as the club quickly filled up with a diverse mix, approximately 50% straight and 50% gay at a rough guess united in their desire to enjoy quality comedy on a Tuesday night.

Compere Craig and Jill opened proceedings with a the classic 'I know him so well' which will not surprise anyone who has seen him before will know Craig is very adept in amending the original lyrics into something far funnier than in this case Tim Rice ever intended and so the tone of the evening as set.

Showman Hill plays the crowd as very few others can and his undoubted compering skill elicited both humour and information from the crowd royally warming up the atmosphere for the opening act Scott Agnew.

It has been eighteen months since we had seen this 6' 5" Glaswegian and I was really impressed as to how he has matured in his performance. Agnew had only a short set back in 2006 and maybe he didn't have time to build his routine back then, however, given the longer opening slot he blossomed. Really funny material, relaxed delivery but with plenty of energy surely earmark him for the top. He can gag as well as relate anecdotes of his tours with ease and had his packed crowd in his hand throughout.

Following the first interval the intrepid duo reappeared for the Game show section where Jill, ably assisted by two audience 'volunteers', managed to have the place in uproar as she extracted so much hilarity from answers given and the audience reaction to them. A simple idea, but hey, given her obvious talent one that worked oh so well.

Following the second interval and the prize draw top of the bill act Mrs Barbara Nice, a comic persona developed by Janice Connelly, took to the stage and over the lives of the whole crowd for the entirety of her set. Mrs Nice a mature mother of 5 from Stockport blew the audience away, had them making funny noises, playing guessing games and even had the entire crowd up on their feet joining in with her neighbours dance. Once described as the original desperate housewife, her material was genuinely laugh out loud funny in an encouraging way and as for the finale, well who would have expected a lady of her age crowd surfing the entire length of the club? Certainly not me!

The wind-down was again Ms Peacock and Mr Hill. Craig read at random from an ‘erotic book' while Jill attempted to interpret his words for the hard of hearing. Again something different and an idea that really worked.

The next 'ooting' for OOT II in Edinburgh is on March 23 so check out the Stand’s website for details of this and all other up and coming gigs on www.thestand.co.uk and hopefully we’ll see you there.