WHEN a giant of a man takes to the stage at a comedy club with a dinky guitar dangling around his belly you can never be sure what to expect.

But Mitch Benn has the rare ability to do comedy songs that are actually funny.

Mitch looks like the bastard child of Kurt Cobain and a WWF wrestler but has the voice of an actor trained at RADA.

He filled the stage at the Comedy Zone, at Evolution, Lowesmoor, Worcester, and filled the auditorium with his mix of comedy songs and stand-up.

He produced a brick wall of comedy that he used to smack the audience around the head.

The routine was like a mix of Bill Bailey and Ken Dodd amplified, and his timing, especially with the music, was excellent.

Even if you think doing a comedy cover of the charity version of Perfect Day is not especially topical, Mitch's schizophrenic caricature karaoke it is so good you forgive him instantly.

Before Mitch took to the stage Natalie Haynes overwhelmed the audience with her 400 words-a-minute performance.

Natalie has the neuroses and speed of Bridget Jones on a whole bunch of drugs, but she also has deeply dark streak in her humour.

Her solution to the moral dilemma of Siamese twins Jody and Mary wasn't exactly what you would call PC.

But you would call it absolutely hilarious.

First to take the stage was Ira Rainey who delivered the material like a storyteller on Jackanory and then side-stepped the audience to deliver a punchline they never saw coming.

However, his routine seemed a little over-rehearsed and lacked the natural and spontaneous qualities of his fellow comedians.

The Comedy Zone was a fantastic night out and everything should be done to encourage live comedy like this in Worcester. David Lewins