It has been a few weeks since I had a visit to ‘the second home’, Edinburgh’s number one comedy venue The Stand, so along with a few mates, Sheila was busy in Kirkcaldy that night, headed there on Thursday full of anticipation for the package of good beer, fine food and excellent comedy, and I certainly got all I could desire and more.

Host for the evening was Joe Heenan. I have seen him quite a few times recently and can only extol his virtues as a compere. Even though the club was a little quieter than normal, this cheeky chappy got straight down to business, comedy audience interaction and generally warming up one and all for the bill ahead and preparing ‘raw material’, information for the acts to play with.

First off was Kilmarnock based Billy Kirkwood. He is another I have seen a few times recently, ‘though mostly as a compere, so it was good to se him have the chance to do his set. I feel this guy has a great comedy talent and is well worth his place on any bill. His material is plenty and varied, often self-deprecating but really funny. He did the difficult opening slot with ease and didn’t take long to get everyone on his side.

Following the first interval, back bounced Joe to get the second section off and running, whipping up the crowd for the two acts in this part. First up was Sian Bevan, doing the short slot for a change. It has been a while since I have seen this lady on stage, not by choice, it just hasn’t happened for a while. It is still easy to see why she is such a busy girl on the comedy circuit. Ms Bevan talked a lot about he relationship, again somewhat self deprecating and generally had the audience with her throughout.

Another short burst from Joe heralded the arrival of act two’s closing act on the stage in the form of Michael Legge. I was aware of this name in comedy circles however had not had the pleasure of seeing him before. This London based Northern Irishman took only seconds to captivate the entire audience as his wit and material seemed to be to everyone’s taste. Skilful interplay with the crowd, together with an excellent routine meant that his time just evaporated. Watch out for this guy if he is at a comedy club near you, his set was worth the admission money alone. The content was wide ranging, some anecdotal, some observational, some just plain gags, it all seemed to come naturally to him, but I have to say his audience interaction just shaded it for me.

After the second interval and prize draw, Heenan introduced the headline act, Alistair Barrie. I know Diane from our team had reviewed him during Fringe 2007 and rated him I wondered if might struggle to attain the standard previously set by those earlier on the bill.

I was oh so wrong!!

Mr Barrie rocked the house. His stage presence grabbed you at once, his material laugh-out-loud funny and as for his comedy timing- Wow!

He played a lot on his ‘posh English’ voice, gently poking fun at himself and others, and then hitting with killer lines. It was a genuine pleasure to see his show for the first time; I certainly hope it won’t be the last. Barrie spends a lot of time on the road but is a big fan of Edinburgh. I really hope his travels this year include the Fringe in August, and if they do, apologies to the rest of my reviewers, but you ain’t gonna get to cover his show. I am!!

So there we have it, yet another superb night had been put to Tommy and his team at The Stand. If you hurry, you can catch this same line-up tonight, Friday and also Saturday in Edinburgh or just check out The Stand’s website www.thestand.co.uk for future gigs.