THE spectre of Hallowe'en hung heavy in York last night - and Swedish comic Henrik Elmer hardly seemed a suitably chilling choice for such an eerie evening.

A Swedish comic? Surely a man from a nation famed for its dour demeanour did not stand a ghost of a chance when it came to making people chuckle.

His twisted material, charting increasingly obsessive traits, gained more gentle groans than wild belly laughs.

But, ultimately, Elmer proved as warped as a faulty Ikea table leg, as he outlined his weird world of party invites to people on the same phone book page as him, and hanging his head out of stationery trains.

Mancunian Dave Bishop bristled with enthusiasm honed during compere stints in his native north-west.

The crowds warmed to his edgy set - and it was nice to see a performer stand up...then sit down in the crowd with a pint at the end of his set.

The student-heavy audience was probably mightily relieved fresher-bashing Geordie Dave Johns didn't perch next to their bottles of trendy continental lager.

Refusing to be put off by a crisp-munching punter sat near the stage - "I'm being heckled off stage by noisy snacks" - he thrived in the confined atmosphere of the Basement Bar, noting how it was strange to see a Geordie working underground.

Currently starring alongside Hollywood star Christian Slater in a stage version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Johns' talent - appropriately enough for a night of ghosts and ghouls - was frightening.

Updated: 11:05 Monday, November 01, 2004