ASK people what the secret of comedy is and many will answer "timing", though actually being "funny" helps. But there's another little gem which adds to success - being immensely likeable.

And the audience at The Other Side Comedy Club were treated to two such people, who thankfully were also funny, when Mark Watson and Lucy Porter brought their Edinburgh Fringe Festival preview shows to York.

First up was nervy, energetic Welshman Mark, who stood up in the middle of the audience to announce himself in a very self-deprecating way. He wasn't aiming to be brilliant, he said, just fairly good and if people left having been fairly entertained he would be pleased.

He then rattled on like a steam-train - though the track on which he was travelling had so many branches it was amazing he got anyway.

You couldn't help but laugh how he described his affliction for commentating on everything including the man who ran for the train but didn't quite make it, which drew an energetic shout of "Oh he's missed it!" Facebook, hype, relationships, and, ultimately, an inspiring story of how life was actually pretty good, kept the chuckles coming.

He was followed by the adorable Lucy Porter, who is so smiley, warm and simply nice - and not in a sickening way - that you couldn't help liking her.

Her routine, all about love and relationships, may not have been as side-splittingly funny as Mark is, but it was like having a conversation with a really close, amusing friend, punctuated by some hilarious stories - including the blind date who found out she didn't own her property and declared: "I don't date renters!"

York got a treat and at the snip of a price of the Edinburgh Festival.