YORK on race nights resembles Mordor, the nightmarish kingdom in Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings, according to Russell Howard.

The apparently shaken comedian – now an easily recognisable household name – drew quick laughter with a description of his frightening negotiation through drunken revellers on his way to City Screen (for the second of two sold-out nights in The Basement). He went on to draw amusing parallels between the evening’s predicted apocalypse and the scenes he had witnessed on York’s streets.

The Mock The Week panellist and star of Russell Howard’s Good News sped on with stories about his eccentric family and old friends, and more explicit tales of mortifying teenage experiences and a visit to a ping-pong show in Thailand.

Despite criticising the banal nature of dating show Take Me Out and reality programmes such as The Only Way Is Essex, much of Howard’s observational material came from these mainstream references. Heat magazine staples Justin Bieber, Kerry Katona, Lady GaGa and even the narrator from Come Dine with Me all got a mention.

It is his quirky take on the run-of-the-mill that makes Howard’s energetic brand of humour irresistible to the widest of television audiences. But it was rewarding to see his slightly more risqué ramblings hold their own in this more adult setting. While Howard was obviously testing the water with a few of his jokes, the laughs were consistent and his material was on the money.

Indeed, the audience got value for money, with a lengthy set of almost two-and-a-half hours. As Howard admitted, he wasn’t keen to brave the streets again.