All things digested have a similar hue...

British comedy is full of unsung heroes. Those faces you know, who make you laugh, but never quite reach the giddy heights of the mainstream. But so few of them delight in their position just off kilter from the world of celebrity as much as Matt Berry.

Having first made his mark as the womanising alcoholic stud Todd Rivers, portraying hot headed badly dubbed womanising alcoholic stud Dr Lucian Sanchez in the magnificient Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Berry soon cropped up in The Mighty Boosh - as the self important and sometimes villainous zoo owner Dixon Bainbridge. This was followed by what, to date, is his magnum opus... the criminally unseen AD/BC: A Rock Opera.

Further appearances in the Garth Marenghi linked Man to Man with Dean Learner, and his own sketch show with Rich Fulcher, Snuffbox (soon to be released on dvd at last), were followed by his most high profile role to date - as new boss Douglas Denholm in series two of the hit and miss The IT Crowd. The role may have been somewhat limited - at times it felt as if the part was a hastily formed rewrite when Chris Morris refused to return for the full run - but its certainly brought Berry a lot more attention.

This is both a good thing and a bad one. Its given the BBC the push they needed to release both AD/BC and Snuffbox - though the success of The Mighty Boosh through sheer word of mouth and Youtube alone may have had a helping hand there - but it also means that the audience for his second tour of 2007 is made up as much of unwitting newcomers who have no idea what to expect as it is the hardened followers who've seen it all before and want a second helping of the bizarre.

And strange Berry's show is. Drawing mostly on his 2005 album Opium - a glorious blend of seventies prog jazz lounge rock, faux-mysgonistic comedy and that wonderful fruity voice - the show also features songs from AD:BC and Snuffbox, and a snatch of the music he's composed for other shows on the quiet too (the theme for Saxondale gets an airing, but sadly none of the hilarious songs he wrote for The Peter Serafinowicz Show). The songs were mostly the same as the previous tour, but the character Berry plays on stage had developed immensely. Matt Berry, the 'singer', is apparently a bastard, and proud of it.

Throughout the night, Berry downs a bottle of 'vodka', berates his band - at one point insulting his bassist so much he threatens our anti-hero - only for Berry to command the poor man remove his trousers and play the rest of the show sans pants. Its a grand cabaret of base debauchery, and while its a complete contrast to the man himself, the theatrics stretch out what basically amounts to around 40 minutes of musical material into a full show. It barely matters that Love Is A Fool/Snuffbox Theme gets trotted out three times before the night is over, because the journey between the variations is so entertaining.

A highlight of the evening is undoubtedly Berry's most famous 'number' - the infamous One Track Lover. For those not in the know, in the fictional world of Garth Marenghi, the actor Todd Rivers (Berry) had a failed attempt at a pop career on the back of his Darkplace role - as those awful eighties tv stars often did - and as with many of the real shows of the time, persuaded the makers to put the song into an episode for a bit of free promotion... well, to say any more if you haven't seen it would spoil its charms should you chose to do so, and to say any more if you have would just be pointless - you know the bit I mean.

In the middle of One Track Lover, Berry and the band have taken to inserting a brief blast of In The Air Tonight - this time around, this was backed up by the sight of drummer Charlie wearing a gorilla mask. At another point, Berry complains he feels sick, then pretends to pass out while the band perform a perfect rendition of The IT Crowd theme. When its over, Berry awakes, and jokes he's had a horrible dream that he was in a show that people watched. It's these little touches that help to make the night so special... a treat for the dedicated who have followed his work these past three years or so enchanted.

Special mention must be made of his backing band, Jonas 3. Their own work is heavier than Berry's, and positively reeks of 'The Next Big Thing', yet they are also the perfect accompaniment to Matt's unusual charms... being suitably quirky in their own right. Sadly on this tour they are not playing their own set, being knee deep in working out material for their second album, but if you get a chance to see them live in their own right - you'd be a fool not to go for it. It's safe to say that if it wasn't for Berry's tv connections, the majority of people in the audience wouldn't be there... its arguable that a lot of them would find his music on record to be a little too oddball for them - but if you buy into Berry's world, you're in for a treat. Let's hope another album and tour are in the pipeline before too long.

AD/BC: A Rock Opera is now available to buy from 2|Entertain. Snuff Box: Series One is released in January. The album Opium is available at gigs, or visit Matt Berry's myspace for more info.