YOU know it's been an eventful night when an award-winning comic, asked when he's returning to York, replies: "Some time between the day I die and never."

That waspish response suggested Daniel Kitson's marathon stint at a packed City Screen last night was an unremitting flop. Far from it.

But a three-hour performance starting late enough for people to have drunk themselves into a stupor and Kitson's mischievous knack of luring in, then ferociously ripping apart moronic hecklers produced a strange, strange show.

No doubt self-confessed "lover, thinker, artist and prophet" Kitson is a formidably gifted comic talent.

Perhaps best known as bumbling DJ turned barman Spencer in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, he cut a similar scruffy, shambolic, stuttering figure on stage.

As a result, some punters seemed hell-bent on taking him on. The comic faced a barrage of heckles as he slowly outlined his embittered, philosophical world view of mime artist muggers and star slots on Radio Leicestershire with biting sarcasm and magical word play.

But the wannabe funnymen in the audience should have bitten their tongues as teetotal Kitson cut them to ribbons... then gleefully sliced the ribbons to tiny shreds.

You got the feeling Kitson thoroughly enjoyed such mismatched verbal jousting. Watching him arrogantly pulverise drunks made for fantastic entertainment, but at the same time was slightly deflating, as in a stop-start show we only caught brief glimpses of Kitson in full flow.

Shame he's never coming back. Let's hope he changes his mind.

Updated: 15:37 Wednesday, May 19, 2004