EVERY review of comedian Rich Hall has to include the word deadpan. So I am going to get it over with in the first sentence.

Hall arrives on stage after a self-deprecating intro from the wings, “They say you play York Theatre Royal twice in your career: once on your way up and once on your way down. Please welcome back Rich Hall.”

The man from Montana turns 60 this year but would pass for someone in their late forties, despite a somewhat dishevelled appearance. He is a dead ringer for Moe, the barman character from the Simpson’s, which he points out twice during the show.

He ad-libs effortlessly and hilariously with ‘victims’, picked off seemingly randomly in the stalls. A couple, Albert and Angie, are first. “Did you two meet choosing personalised mugs?” he asks.

He encourages another couple, Dan and Steph, who have been together three years, to get engaged before the end of the show.

His Bryson-esque appreciation of the British is a major part of his set. He claims to have read a copy of The Press from cover to cover, in his hotel room before the show, including the obits. “People in York only die in two ways,” he notes, “peacefully or suddenly”.

There was no chance of this comic dying on stage; not in those cowboy boots. He had the packed Theatre Royal audience in the palm of his hand.

Later on, towards the end of the show, he presents a ring to Dan. Dan goes down on one knee and proposes, Steph accepts. Congratulations both, I hope you invited Rich to your reception...