Tom Stade, Chorley Little Theatre, 25 November 2011

Billed as 'Strictly for over 16s only' Canadian comic Tom Stade arrived in Chorley on the penultimate night of a mammoth three month tour. Chorley Little Theatre was sold out with an audience comprised of a balance of people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. There weren't too many grey hairs in the audience, which was just as well, since this wasn't the kind of show you would happily take your grandmother too, unless your grandmother used to work in a shipyard and was used to someone who uses the F word to punctuate every fifth word they speak. Stade's gags mirrored his language as he picked on members of the front row, analysing the sex life of a couple who'd been married 17 years and questioning the commitment of a man who was with his pregnant partner of 7 years but hadn't married her. 'Still not sure she's the one, eh?'

His 90 minute set covered the sex act in various forms, domestic violence and the tribulations of married life. He may not make many friends amongst the feminist movement but the howls of mainly female laughter would suggest that he touched several nerves in his description of life in the Stade household.

Using his non native status to comment on the Brits, the highlight for me was his description of how Brits think Argos is a great place to shop even though there are no goods on display.

The language is filthy and Tom Stade will never be to everyone's tastes as his subject material is at times edgy and absolutely not prime time material. But as his joke about starving Ethiopians going to 'McGeldofs' showed ('why is it that in America poor people are fat'?) he can be funny and thought provoking. Not many comedians can say that.

Alun Cochrane, Chorley Little Theatre, 17 November 2011

Stand up comedian Alun Cochrane likes entering into conversations with members of his audience, so sitting in the second row of the Chorley Little Theatre was always going to be a high risk strategy. Especially when the venue was only half full. And he was less than ten seconds into his act before he alighted upon my 15 year old son Bill and warned him (and me) that we would be hearing some colourful language, albeit he suggested no more colourful than Bill probably hears in the playground every day.

A comedian originally from Scotland but now living in Manchester by way of West Yorkshire and, inevitably for a stand up, south London, he doesn't tell jokes. Instead he shares with his audiences his dislike of certain types of people - fat ones who breathe too loudly on the quiet zone on trains, motor home owners who take all their worldly goods on holiday with them, the man who threatened to pull out of buying his house in an attempt to haggle the price down just before contracts were exchanged - and the human race in general.

Cochrane cheerfully admits to being a misanthrope who can 'suck the joy out of any joyous occasion' but noted shrewdly that all the women in the audience immediately turned to their menfolk and mouthed 'you do that'.

He also shared his discomfort at finding himself in B&Q with fourteen cardboard cutouts of a slightly less than life sized Alan Titchmarsh, imagining him on the phone to his agent to complain that B&Q had shrunk him by a couple of inches.

He didn't enjoy his free skiing holiday - 'I call it "slipping"' - while signing up for a new 25 year mortgage as a professional comedian was also quite stressful. 'What happens if I'm only chucklesome in twelve years' time? Will we have to move out of our new house?' The audience was doing more than chuckling though, and he was gratified to see that a woman in the audience had laughed so much she spilt her drink. He finished with a real highlight - a sketch about Darth Vader telling his hairdresser how his holiday went.

Alun Cochrane doubts there is any immediate prospect of him entertaining a crowd at an arena-sized gig. But the reaction of the stand up fans who witnessed him in the intimate setting of the Little Theatre suggests suggests that could all be about to change. He certainly acquired a devotee in Bill.