IN the flesh Jack Dee is much smaller than his TV hard-man image.

But the celebrity misery guts -- reduced to a tiny figure behind a microphone in the packed Preston Guild Hall -- still held the audience spellbound for two-and-a-half hours.

Rumour has it Jack carries post-it notes to gigs, and writes down things which have annoyed him that day, sticking them around his dressing room to prepare. On Thursday (Feb 28), Jack had the NHS, Winter Olympics and Yorkshire on his mind, and took his anger out in the only way he knows how -- side-splitting, no-holds barred jokes.

During a half-hour rant on the NHS, Jack revealed his solution to waiting lists: treat people not on the seriousness of injuries, but on how stupid the accident was that brought them to A&E. Falling off a ladder gives you a four-minute wait, being hit by the man falling off a ladder, a 24-minute wait. Problem solved!

The rest of the evening followed similar lines, but some remarks had the audience wondering, has Jack gone soft?

Jokes about fatherhood and prostate problems fell on deaf ears. Fatherhood and his 40th birthday have changed his outlook, and a group of bored hecklers threatened to interrupt the show before being asked to leave.

But by the end, Jack had settled into his routine and had the crowd eating out of his hand.