With a show called Words Don't Come Easy, you may think Lancastrian comedian Dave Spikey was short of things to talk about, writes Alan Thompson.

Not a bit of it – it was ludicrous words used in everyday contexts including songs, poetry and newspapers, that the Bolton-born funnyman wanted to expose.

And texting: "A refuge for the illiterate – it's supposed to be quicker, but you need one of those Enigma machines to decode it."

His words hit the mark with the largely middle-aged, appreciative but thinly-spread audience at De Montfort Hall.

The likeable Bolton funny man, writer and former NHS haematologist had plenty of subjects in his sights.

Pretentious-sounding menus in gastro pubs provoked his comic ire. "What's 'encased in a filo basket' mean? It's a pie then, is it?"

Wryly observed characters and situations from everyday life littered the evening, each episode lapped up by the audience.

Some of his comedy is drawn on experiences of his grandparents, with whom he spent a good deal of his childhood.

"My gran was particularly excited one day," he recalled.

"She said 'I'm having two teeth out tomorrow and a gas fire put in'"

A highly entertaining, laugh-out-loud show, and an evening of quality comedy.