All that is great and good in comedy descended onto the Hammersmith Apollo for the WSPA’s Stand up for Animal to help raise awareness for the suffering of our natural friends.

In the space of three hours a comedy line up which included Robin Ince, Lucy Porter, Chris Addison and Bill Bailey guided you through a comedy digest of Hitler and nipple tweaking via the ever constant, ‘Dave’s theory’.

And, as Robin Ince succinctly puts it: “Nothing puts me more in the mood for comedy than animal death.”

Chris Addison opened the billing to deftly explain how childishness can defeat Al-qaeda, followed by Tim Vine who ran through a relentless list of often quite dire jokes at a lightning pace before finishing with a strange Orville style song.

Lucy Porter’s nipple tweaking relaxation exercise should be shared more often. Porter gave an insight into a mid-thirties woman’s mind, going on a tangent with an imaginary dog routine and trying to find a boyfriend through brand whoring.

Big Howard, Little Howard showed promise but revealed that the art of comedy with a virtual character has not reached the heights of perfection just yet.

Will Smith stood out a the most thoughtful act of the night, summing up in detail the agony of being faced with a teenager on a bus, notebook in hand and in dire need to take down twat slang.

Phil Nichol’s sheer energy levels may be why he gets mugged so much. Running around the stage with more energy than a ADHD junkie he twists and turns his way - jazz hands included – through the typical cockney act of “eer, mate do you fuckin want some..?”, before finishing with an excellent rendition Nivarna / Morrissey / Billy Bragg interpretion of his own favourite ‘I’m the only gay Eskimo in my tribe.’

The big crowd puller though was Bailey, Still tramping that ‘aren’t the killers a crap band’ line from last summer, guitar in hand Bailey struts through a melody of friends hating, pigeon shouting in the park and Sharia Law, before an excellent finale hoe-down with Tim Minchin.

Stand up for Animals gave enough variety to make a festival comedy tent weep. If there is any criticism to be made, - and it is like kicking a puppy - it’s that each act is too short too sweet to be really effective.

Bailey barely settled into his act before it was over, except for a hoe-down with Tim Minchin which allowed Robin Ince to get a good kicking from Bailey junior. That said, for variety Stand up for Animals was well worth the organisational hell for a worthwhile cause.

Tim Clark

For more information on the WSPA, go to www.wspa.org.uk

On Stage: Bill Bailey: