Recently by Helen Dalby

I've just won tickets to see Michael McIntyre's new show on Saturday night at The Journal Tyne Theatre!

I'd already bought tickets to see him at the end of November in Durham, but I think it's worth going twice, mainly because I'm a comedy junkie but also because last time I saw him he did lots of ad libbed audience interaction/local reference stuff, which was great.

I watch a lot of stand-up, some good, some bad. This autumn I have the following shows lined up, in no particular order, and will be posting my thoughts on them all right here:

:: Dylan Moran at the City Hall
:: Tim Minchin at the Durham Gala
:: Michael McIntyre at the Durham Gala
:: Russell Howard at the Theatre Royal
:: Frankie Boyle at the City Hall
:: Jimmy Carr at the City Hall
:: Brendon Burns at Northern Stage

But there are a handful of shows that were so brilliant they've stayed with me for a long time - read on for descriptions of my two favourites...

...to the question "If you could bring any celebrity back from the dead, who would it be?"

I don't even have to think about that - unquestionably, it's Bill Hicks.

Provided it's funny, I can be won over by observational, lightweight, Peter Kay-style marshmallow stand-up quite easily. But when only a dark and bilious rant will do, I always turn to Mr Hicks, even though I can pretty much quote most of his routines verbatim.

One of the best stand-up gigs I ever went to was Daniel Kitson's 'It's the Fireworks Talking' show at the Edinburgh fringe in 2007.

It cost me the princely sum of £9 and involved cramming into The Stand's intimate jumble of mismatched tables and chairs at 11.30pm, and listening to 90 perfect minutes from one of the most natural and eloquent stand-ups I've seen.

I immediately signed up to his mailing list and saw him again at the Durham Gala Theatre in May 2008. Prior to hitting the road, he sent out an email explaining that he'd tried to keep all ticket prices for the tour under £10, and apologising for those venues that had insisted on charging more to cover their own costs. He should be commended for that.