A MIXTURE of stand-up comedy, live music and poetry wowed a sell-out crowd when John Hegley called by on Saturday.

The Ledbury Poetry Festival event saw the town's Community Hall packed with an expectant crowd well before the time he was due on.

When he did bound on to the stage, his deadpan delivery of a selection of poems was so rapid it almost seemed as though he was keen to get it over with.

Short or long, comic or tragic, they were fired at the audience with the same energy and rhythm in an almost bored-sounding voice. For those unfamiliar with the works it was impossible to savour every nuance of meaning as they whistled past, but this was more than made up for by the way the stresses were expertly placed to highlight internal rhymes and rhythms.

Interspersed with this were songs accompanied by dextrous and enthusiastic mandolin playing, anecdotes and colour from his past and witty ad-libs.

He commanded the room with the authority of a seasoned stand-up, making everyone laugh one minute and contemplative the next.

His undoubted talent, coupled with his outwardly serious demeanour, seemed to cow the audience, and when he offered to answer questions no-one dared raise a hand.

However, glimpses of the playful, humorous, warm, self-deprecating personality indicated by his poetry could be seen through occasional chinks in the armour of his stage persona.

Prolonged applause greeted his departure from the stage, and a scrum formed around the book- signing table at the end of the room.

Jon di Paolo