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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Bruce Dessau's rating
Reader rating
Description: Stand-up from the star of BBC 6 Music and Mock The Week.
Trains: BR: Hayes & Harlington 
Phone: 0208561 8371
Website: www.becktheatre.org.uk
Email: enquiries@becktheatre.org.uk
Extra info: Pub, Food
Who needs awards? if.comedy winner Brendon Burns might have just played a prestigious gig at the Garrick, but surprise omission from the shortlist Russell Howard is packing them in everywhere. Apart from Hayes. Judging by last night's storming show in front of a small, appreciative audience, it is hard to see what else Howard can do to please the panel.
The youthful linchpin of BBC2's Mock The Week hit the ground running, thawing a reserved crowd with some sparky repartee. This slight-framed storyteller might still be only 27, but he is a stand-up natural, shooting the breeze, pulling faces, doing daft accents, digressing wildly à la Ross Noble, but always remembering the importance of punchlines.
Adventures is essentially a catch-all title for a monologue that allows Howard to celebrate magical moments in his life, which fortunately for us tend to be funny incidents such as visiting the Neighbours set or being woken by Morris dancers in Bath - the latter a sure sign of being middle class.
It is hard to see what Edinburgh's judges objected to. There might not be much depth but he is so effervescently witty it scarcely matters. There is a tendency-towards juvenile bottom-based banter, but Howard redeems these puerile passages with some neat asides. On having a rectal examination he recalls thinking: "I feel like a novelty glove."
Above all there is a gleeful innocence here that puts him ahead of the pack. While others try to be fashionably edgy, his childish charm dovetails perfectly with his references to playful kids, chocolate bars and zoos. So will he be an if. comedy contender next year? Definitely not. Because he will be too famous to be eligible.
• Bloomsbury Theatre 22, 23 October and 12 December. Information: 020 7388 8822, www.russell-howard.co.uk
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Went to see him last night..... very poor. Never again will I watch his recirculated jokes that wernt really funny, and he likes to make fun of dissabled people, again not FUNNY
- Chris Fletcher, Sheffield
I saw him at Live at the apollo, and am one of the few people who watched Mock The Week from when it began. I didn't hear one joke in his 15 minute set that I hadn't heard him 'wittily' come up with 'on the spot' on Mock the Week. He's surreal to the point of being annoying, a Ross Noble rip-off and his bouncy-happy novelty style won't last forever.
- Sam Selwood, Wimbledon, London
Oh I recognise him, he's the really unfunny one on Mock the Week.
Frankie Boyle. Now there's a true funny man!
- Al Stuart, ealing London
