It is no doubt every comedian's nightmare to have their late-night show delayed through no fault of their own.

But if Tommy Tiernan was worried about the crowd's sense of humour disappearing like breath in the cold night air while waiting for the previous performance to end, he didn't show it.

The cocky Irishman made no apologies as he sauntered on stage for a raucous set which caused almost as many gasps of astonishment as guffaws of laughter.

Tiernan came across as the kind of naughty altar boy who probably had every priest in Ireland checking his scalp for the number 666.

He could be nice, he could be sweet but in an instant his brogue rose into an obscenity-filled rant and no colour or creed, not even his own family, was spared.

It is to his credit that, while exceedingly nasty, he always managed to rescue things from the clutches of cruelty.

Still, the man has charm to spare and it was fantastic fun to watch him do a jaunty Irish jig all over the limp body of political correctness. Naughty but nice.