Funnybone Comedy Club, Centre Stage, Westbourne

THIS was a night of contrasting moods, wildly fluctuating levels of success and not a little good-natured and drink-fuelled ribaldry.

Funnybone's Friday night audiences come in all shapes and sizes and sharp comics will feed off the buzz and use it to their advantage.

Rich Wilson will admit he had a bad night at the office, failing to cope with a couple of noisy party groups as he gamely tried to win over a fairly generous audience prepared to react positively to the few lines that hit home.

Chris McCausland proved within seconds that good material can win over even the most addled individuals and his 40-minute routine flew by in a whirl of incisive wit.

Although registered blind, his self-deprecating humour rarely plays on his disability, but he uses it cleverly as just one tool in a very large box of comical tricks.

Tricks are how headline act Carey Marx made his name, but his world-class sleight of hand magic prowess have been sidelined in favour of a caustic and very wicked line in comedy centring on sexual mores.

Not so much near the knuckle as actually assaulting it, he even got away with his rather smug delivery and savage put-downs.