A look at the twilight side

Topicality and news headlines are the lifeblood of plenty of stand-up comedians wanting to offer their wry take on the world. But last year, Channel 4's 'King of Comedy' Andrew Maxwell found himself thoroughly shafted by them.

Up until July 7, 2005, the massively talented Irishman had been confidently set to head to that year's Edinburgh Festival with a piece that rested on the premise that Britain would never produce a suicide bomber - and the gags had been going down a treat in previews. Then the Tube and bus bombings happened.

'My first feeling was shock, and the second was f***ing real anger, because London has been my home for a third of my life,' he explains. But he remains genial and pragmatic about the fact that just three weeks before comedy's biggest festival he suddenly had bugger-all of a show.

'As the saying goes, life is what happens when you're making plans. It wasn't stressful, I just found it f***ing funny to have the rug pulled from under me.'

By the end of that Edinburgh run, Maxwell was churning out a hastily rewritten effort of gags and stories that was nothing short of remarkable. A bit haphazard, yes, but rip-roaringly funny.

It was enough to impress the Comedy Store's Don Ward, who invited him to regularly take over the Store with his weird and wonderful star-studded midnight shows, Maxwell's Fullmooners, which indulge the comedian's love of night-time.

Tonight he'll be performing 'Round Twilight, his sizzling - and unimpeded - latest effort that also serves as Fullmooners' unofficial 'companion piece'. 'I've always had a fascination with twilight,' he explains. 'It's the time when I like being alone, just watching the day die. That magical time when the light plays tricks.' And, as he's often proved, Maxwell is brilliant after the Sun sets.

'Round Twilight consists of a series of tantalising stories spawned from unnerving nocturnal mishaps. He'll be tweaking it during this Soho run, but you may well get the one about the 12 Filipina hookers in Hong Kong, the time he shared weed with a scary Cape Town street gang or, if you're very lucky, the darkly funny twist-to-die-for story about a night in Doha when he went off into the desert with a bunch of mysterious Arabs, stoned and paranoid he was going to be taken hostage.

'The point is that there's humanity in every circumstance, as long as you incite curiosity and you maintain a certain amount of manners,' he insists. And people, he reckons, are a nicer bunch when the Sun goes down.

'Round Twilight is the most anecdotal hour he's ever done. Maxwell also reckons it's his best. 'There is nothing I wouldn't do to make an audience laugh,' he declares happily - which is probably why this show will also be one of the best you'll see this year.

Tonight until Dec 16, Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street W1, Mon to Sat 9.30pm, £10 to £17.50. Tel: 0870 429 6883. www.sohotheatre.com Tube: Tottenham Court Road/ Piccadilly Circus