STAND-up comedian Doug Stanhope brought his unique brand of brutal comedy to York’s Grand Opera House.

He wowed and shocked the crowd in equal measure with a routine that was a cocktail of heavy opinions, tough talk and biting satire.

Playing his sixth gig in as many days, Stanhope is still fairly early on into his 33- date UK tour, the largest he has ever played on these shores.

Stanhope has been performing stand-up comedy for more than 20 years, yet it is his appearances in recent years on television programmes such as Charlie Brooker's Newswipe and American hit show Louie that have helped raise his popularity.

His unrelentingly savage and cutting material are unlikely to ever make him a mainstream star, but his very niche form of comedy got into full swing in York.

Taking regular swigs from his many bottles of beer, Stanhope became ever so slightly more shambolic as his performance went on. Yet this was by no means a bad thing, as his rants became funnier and more vicious as the show reached its climax.

The York crowd were regularly gasping with shock and shrieking in laughter as the American turned in a truly fantastic performance, with an impressive natural ability to hold the room’s attention while seemingly absent-mindedly forgetting his trail of thought, or take a drink halfway through a passionate sentence.

Fellow American Henry Phillips started the night brilliantly as the support act. His guitar playing skills and quirky self-deprecating songs were the ideal warm up.

Review by Matt Laycock