Tony Law found himself in the unexpected position of host at Theatre 503.

Despite being second-top billing for the night, when the compere doesn’t show up someone’s got to do it

And, being a sold out ‘special guest’ show, it was a good job Law stepped in.

Starting his compere set in typically farsical style “I’m not Tony Law, I saw him out back and punched him in the face,” Law’s set included advice on how to run at strangers and weighing up the odds of a fight between a black bear and a salmon pink painted shark.

The skill Law has is the ability to deconstruct his own gags in front of your eyes.

By constantly asking himself ‘what the hell did I just say? That makes no sense’, it demands you to reconsider the joke at such speed it chisels away at your mental capacity, leaving you laughing uncontrollably at his constant musings.

Next on, Lateef Lovejoy started out on the ropey subject of beggars, culminating in a joke involving big mac’s, “if you can guess how many I’ve got I’ll give you both of them” - which was barely original.

Lovejoy did get better, but thankfully finished before he had time to come out with any more daft gags.

Real compere Gary Coleman barely had time to impose himself to the audience as he was so late. George Bush gets the blame for most of the worlds ill’s but rarely is he blamed for the traffic. Coleman blamed him anyway.

Despite being a footnote in the show, Coleman did have just enough time to introduce Tom Rosenthal, who burst on stage with a set which belied his age and threatened to overshadow the big man himself with some of the best material of the night, including an excellent skit on Machiavelli.

The ‘special guest’ star, who’s name was hardly a secret was Office and Extra’s supreme Stephen Merchant.

Starting slowly, Merchant steadily built up steam as he described the problems of being guilty by association with fat people while shopping at High and Mighty before moving on to abuse fat people in general.

Merchant’s Westcountry tang belies his ability to come out with a sharp remark. Immediately finding an audience member who had an uncanny resemblance to the big man, he said: “you look just like me. Wow. Nice girlfriend though, you’re punching above your weight aren’t ya.”

After visibly demolishing a man’s ego on stage Merchant moves on to make good use of his oversized proportions to convey the ridiculous contortions sex gets everyone in to, whether you’re 6’ 7” or not.

Having not seen Merchant except for his secondary role on Extra’s and listening to his Jonathan Ross style waffle on BBC six music it was good to see him take centre stage.

He showed obvious ability to take the limelight and despite being propelled to the highest echelons of the stand-up world on the back of his TV experience, Merchant stood up to the challenge to convey a confidence with his set.

You felt Merchant could have carried on all night, venting his stream of consciousness to the masses, (well fifty) if only the 503 would let him. He was finally undone by licensing laws rather than a lack of Material.

Tim Clark

Steven Merchant is appearing at Upstairs at the Masons on July 1st, with Verity Carter, Gary Coleman, Joe Rowntree, Amadeus Martin, Andy Lydon, George Ryegold, and Holly Walsh.

Full address: 38 Maddox St, W1S 1PD, nearest tube: Oxford Circus.

Price: £4.