NOT too many years ago, almost every comedian worth their weight was a master of the one-liner.

Even comic intellectuals like Woody Allen punctuated their acts with quick-fire gags. These days, the pun has taken a bit of a nose-dive, as stand-up comedy has become more observational. Tim Vine is almost single-handedly bucking that trend. Though his brand of humour owes more to Monty Python than Jackie Mason, he is adept at the one-liner.

Right from the off, the cheery audience at Stockton's Arc were battered by an endless stream of gags. Vine walked out wearing a green spiky plastic hat and dangling a brain on the end of a fishing rod. The delivery was so fast that you'd hardly had time to finish laughing from the first joke before two or three more came along in quick succession. "I've almost finished filling in my CV," he told us, producing a sheet with the letters CV printed on it and a small area waiting to be coloured in. It's all very silly but then like all good surrealist comics, Tim Vine raises daftness almost to the level of an art form. He sings a song about a dry flannel and plays his own rendition of Greensleeves, taking the song title literally.

Though this kind of comedy may evoke a bygone era, Tim Vine is anarchic enough to keep it fresh and, most importantly, to keep us laughing.

Published: 08/03/2005