Reginald D Hunter, Just The Tonic

On the television he's an unassuming observational wit.

But as Reginald D Hunter puts it: "That's business, this is art!"

And as he said, people come in to gigs like this with "hope and expectation" after enjoying his telly routine, but leave with shattered dreams and crushed hope after seeing the stand-up.

Of course, that's just one of his gags. But it is material that would make anyone blush and there were a couple of uncomfortable moments, mostly because of the language he uses - which is clearly intended to shock.

Oddly, the two parts of his act which were best received were the old staple of women drivers, and his visual "bear with me" gag.

As this was an Edinburgh preview, it would be interesting to see which of the rest of the material he keeps in. For it was all good stuff as he instantly built a rapport with the crowd.

He covers a wide range. His supposed abusive (if traditional) deep south childhood, his love life, being single, race, politics are the main fodder.

Sipping on a constant stream of double vodkas from the bar, Reg drew us in with his warmth and personable charm. Even when the easy-going comedy is juxtaposed with his impressions of an Australian friend's very strong expletives, you can't fault Reg. And it's surprising how many expletives he claims not to have heard of before he came to Britain! He's been here 12 years now on the stand-up circuit so he's getting a good handle on his vocabulary.

Supporting act Nick Helm took a while to warm up. But his poetry and music hit the spot with the audience, which preferred that to his jokes. He left the stage after some community singing with the applause still ringing in his ears.

Julian Clary, Just The Tonic

This was Julian Clary approaching his caustic best in a sneak preview of his forthcoming national tour, Lord of the Mince.

Very little was off-limits as the king of innuendo hit the stage in an intimate show which touched on life, love, sex and middle age.

Clary, now a national institution, is surely the pretender to Dame Edna Everage's crown for quick-witted repartee and filthy double-entendre (but only if you have got the mind to go with it).

Hitting 50 this year, and preparing for something of a comeback tour, he reveals that he and Michael Jackson led rather parallel lives, except one made it as far as the tour and the other didn't.

The banter took in gossip surrounding Simon Cowell, the secrets of the Strictly Come Dancing tour dressing room, and Clary's special psychic powers.

There were real jokes too, among the chat, with one memorable line (perhaps another innuendo?) about Paul Daniels – when a little squirt does the trick.

Please don't go into the discussions surrounding a combine harvester in rural Kent, where Julian now lives with his boyfriend.

And perhaps we ought to probe more deeply into his apparent obsession with the success of Paul O'Grady?

Back for the second half in a ringmaster's outfit (think about it…) he encouraged some audience participation with a couple of likely lads from the crowd.

This was a great curtain raiser to what's sure to be a hit tour, and he's due back in Nottingham for his "proper" gig at the Playhouse on September 30.