Shut up!! Look at this magic ya ********! Have ye heard the

one about the half-Scottish, half-Jewish comedian? Half of him wants to get p*****, the other half's too tight to pay! What a load of *****!!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, a warm welcome please for your favourite foul-mouthed magician and patter merchant, Jerry Sadowitz . . . and what a warm welcome he gets!

After an hour of being subjected to a stream of f****** offensive remarks and insults, offset with being party to a series of brilliant sleights of hand and tongue, the audience rises as one for an ovation to its berater.

The essence of his act is, as already stated, close-up magic and even closer-up comedy, but what makes Sadowitz unique and lovable (yes!) is the transparent contradiction of a man who craves acceptance by being as outwardly alienating as possible.

When he shouts at us it's like he's shouting at himself, when he stoops to outrageous racism or sexism to shock us we just have to let it go. In fact, let's be honest, we encourage him in his rants against Americans or Aberdonians, and we can't help but enjoy his filthy treatment of a female assistant plucked from the audience.

Then, a minute later, our collective jaw drops as yet another near-impossible trick suckers us, eliciting spontaneous joy and applause. Who's feeding who in this process? Who f****** cares? Live entertainment really doesn't come any better than this.

Every now and then you see a performer at a time and place in their career where you feel some kind of recognition is due, and Jerry Sadowitz's time and place surely is right now. Oh f***, aye.