TO PINCH one of Frankie Boyle’s jokes, the man is like Marmite, 50 per cent of people hate him, the other 50 per cent would like to see him on the end of a knife.

He’s crass, vulgar, vile, offensive and sick. But his twisted sense of humour mocking the weak, vulnerable and aflicted has a huge following. The packed Barbican Centre on Tuesday night was testament to this.

Boyle revels in controversy. That’s his trademark, his selling point.

He taps into the dark and un-PC side of our character. I have to admit, some of his material is very funny, and you do find yourself laughing when you know deep down that you really, really shouldn’t. As he points out, jokes are only words.

They are “just scenarios”, not real. In fact I think a lot of the time he doesn’t actually believe what he’s saying. It’s all an act, to shock. Sometimes I feel he tries a bit too hard to be controversial.

Jimmy Savile, the BBC, John Terry, Wayne Rooney and Jedward are all subject to his cruel tongue, as were the Paralympics and the disabled in general. He sticks the knife into Michael Jackson and Jordan (just for a change!), and is quick to put down comic contempories such as Peter Kay and Michael McIntyre.

Predictably, he picked on fans sitting in the front row, but not nearly as much I as expected. The show lasted just over an hour, which was plenty.

His references to missing Madeleine McCann were just a bit too sick for me, but Boyle does try to push the boundaries and his fans would have felt offended if he wasn’t offensive. That’s what Boyle is all about.

Much funnier, I thought, was his warm-up act, Canadian comedian Craig Campbell, whose stories and take on life in Britain were hilarious. His 30-minute set was far too short, but thankfully he will be back at the Barbican next May.

But will we see Frankie in York again? Probably not, if you believe what he says, which for me won’t be the end of the world.