The comedian who looks like a lot of other famous people took to the Ulster Hall last night — and for a self-styled frustrated middle-aged liberal, there's still plenty of bite in Stewart Lee.

The opening gag of If You Prefer A Milder Comedian, Please Ask For One gets off to a (pretend?) wobbly start when a member of the audience, asked if she drinks coffee, tells him she doesn't.

He harangues his capacity Ulster Hall audience for letting him down before he picks up the story again. That segues into kids' adventure centres, and the inappropriateness of a pirate activity centre as a first date for a pirate — then he's off into country life and the angriest but most inventive segment of his show.

There’s a sustained attack on all three Top Gear presenters but it’s Richard Hammond who gets the hardest time.

It’s not for the sensitive but it’s funny, imaginative and refreshing to see a seemingly unassailable aspect of our culture held up to ridicule.

^{MARGARET CANNING}