COMEDY: GIG OF THE WEEK

Al Murray tonight, 31 Oct, 7 & 14 Nov

Improv, 161 Tottenham Court Rd, London W1 (0171-387 2414) pounds 10/pounds 7 concs, 11pm start

Like Beryl Bainbridge at the Booker Prize, Al Murray's Pub Landlord (above) is a perennial nominee. This year was the fourth time in succession that Murray had been nominated for - and failed to win - the coveted Perrier Pick of the Fringe Award at the Edinburgh Festival. Despite that, the Pub Landlord is still an electrifying act. In Late Lock-In, the skinheaded Mein Host continues to rail against punters in his gaff who dare to break the golden pub rule of "pint for the gentleman, glass of white wine for the lady". But beyond that, his magnetic performance as the archetypal Little Englander bigot provides some moving insights into what it feels like to be a certain type of British male: dispossessed, insecure, and threatened by everything from French people to modern jazz. Oh yes, and it's killingly funny, too. He plays a Pick of the Fringe show at the Improv.