Sentinel reader and student Matthew Webb, aged 21, from Lonsdale Street, Stoke, reviews Dara O'Briain, at The Regent Theatre, Hanley.

COMEDIANS as big as Dara O'Briain hardly ever interact with the crowd all that much these days. It's a craft which seems to be ignored when the bigger gigs role in.

Mock The Week host Dara is the exception, as the first half of his show is a master class in audience management.

Always a tricky area for comedians, yet he pulled it off with the ease and wit of a panel show host.

He opened with the usual awkward questions for the people foolish enough to be in the front row, then went on to make the show into an open forum, stating that he preferred 'an audience that is like a mob'.

The audience responded well to the random barrage of questions, which included Dara asking the crowd which celebrities had appeared in their dreams recently and asking if anybody had saved a life, which shouldn't have worked but surprisingly did.

The delivery and topicality of his material is quite similar to his appearances on Mock The Week which is always spot on.

This show didn't appear to have a theme, which could have been its downfall as it could have easily become little more than a lot of ranting. It wasn't however, and turned out to be almost two hours of brilliant comedy.

Subject areas ranged from Hollywood blockbusters, child birth classes and even the world of computer gaming, all carefully mocked for their, at times, sheer stupidity. O'Briain performed brilliantly for his fans of Mock The Week and his live shows, and even newcomers would have enjoyed this hilarious set.