If it's Christmas, it must be John Hegley. With the dog-fixated poet, you never get a completely fresh show but this latest one, Christmas Creatures, is a delightful hybrid of old and new for adult and child alike.

The animal theme allowed the bespectacled bard to combine classic verse (Bee Poem - "I live in a colony, I like to get all polleny") with less familiar prose.

I adored his tale of a bird coming down his chimney, the "disorderly duster" scattering soot. The delivery had a deft air of cuteness and threat, somewhere between Santa and The Child Catcher.

Backed at BAC by Keith Moore on double bass, there was a slow-burn jazzy tinge to musical memories of family strife in his Luton bungalow.

The audience had to do their bit, too, giving the chorus some vocal oomph.

This is Hegley in subtle, lo-fi mode. Two years ago, Moore entered atop a 10ft snowman, this time the biggest prop was a canine chum made from a sack. You could call it a doggy bag.

And we may all need one of those over the next week.

• 27 December - 5 January. Information: 020 7223 2223, www.bac.org.uk.