Geoff Norcott gives Laughing Bishops Comedy Club a preview of his Basic Bloke show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

A Bishop’s Stortford comedy club audience fresh from witnessing left-wing firebrand Mark Thomas putting the Tories in his crosshairs were treated to an Edinburgh Festival Fringe preview show by political polar opposite Geoff Norcott.

The 47-year-old comic, labelled a “rare right-winger”, put on a polished performance as he only twice studied his laptop for notes during a sneak peek of his show at the Laughing Bishops Comedy Club at the United Reformed Church Hall in Water Lane on Sunday (Aug 18).

The audience firstly enjoyed an extended set by compere and comedy club owner Paddy Lennox.

Paddy revels in joshing with his audiences and, apart from lambasting “middle-class” Stortfordians, he also loves a target from neighbouring Harlow.

His victim this time was a plumber from the town and it enabled the Northern Irishman to hilariously lapse into his Essex speak.

An admission by a woman in the audience that she was “gluten free” ended with Paddy surprisingly revealing he too had taken on the diet - much to the bemusement of his family back home. It led to him being banished from the dinner table to sit with a relative who his mum admitted was a paedophile, which she believed was in the same category as being gluten free.

Norcott hit the ground running with his disdain for the new Government, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves a particular target, although he admitted “they’re all sh**”.

It’s Norcott’s observations of the difference between men and women - which fits in nicely with the Basic Bloke title of his show - that truly shows his skill.

Like so many top comics he gets away with murder for a self-deprecating style and a regular raise of the eyebrow.

He spoke of his appearances on TV political programmes and in particular when a “feminist” took him to task over his views on male suicide rates, stating that “more women had tried”.

The show moved along at a pace with Norcott rarely pausing for breath. One wondered how the club’s regulars, used to more left-leaning comics, would warm to the self-professed Tory voter who backed Brexit, but they did and a rapturous applause greeted his final bow.

Laughing Bishops Comedy Club returns on September 21, with its sister club at Great Dunmow hosting a top line-up of comedians on September 6.