SUBTLE thing, comedy.

Any sense of effort on the part of the comedian can kill it. You need to be relaxed to laugh, not feeling that the person who is entertaining you is having to work hard.

That's what separated comic Adam Bloom from the rest of last night's line-up at the Grand Opera House - he seems to make no effort at all.

Bloom's act, if you can call it that, is like a night in the pub with your very funny mate.

He chats with the audience as though it doesn't matter whether he comes up with a joke or not, except, of course, he does - every 30 seconds.

Afterwards you can't even remember very much of it, but you're just left with a glowing feeling of having had a great night out. Bloom's routine could not have been more different to that of Irishman Kevin Gildea, who paced the stage firing jokes and building up to a bravado set-piece finale about experimental sex with his wife, which was, to be fair, inspired.

Australian Jim Jeffries had some wonderful material including Joseph giving parental advice to the Messiah: "Maybe you should get yourself a trade to fall back on."

The evening's host Toby Foster launched the evening in great style with the obligatory compere's trick of picking on someone in the audience and making them cheer on their own.

Jongleurs comedy is variable - sometimes fantastic, sometimes barely titter-raising. But all in all, last night was a class act.

Updated: 10:45 Monday, November 10, 2003