THEY say that laughter is the best medicine, and if this is true, Basingstoke has one hell of a doctor in the form of Jan Jack.

The monthly comedy club shows have been sell-outs for months, and I was lucky enough to be invited along to the latest Live at the Apollo… Hotel event last night (Thursday, 14 June).

A packed-out room enjoyed four very different comedians, all of whom didn’t leave a single stone unturned. Touching on subjects from being a parent, learning about the birds and the bees and everything in between.

Our MC for the night, Phil Dinsdale, was the perfect host to warm up the crowd with his witty one-liners before introducing American stand-up Erich McElroy, who instantly apologised for being from the States.

Even though the American twang is still clear to hear in McElroy’s voice, he has lived in the UK for 19 years and explained that he had to undertake a citizenship test where he was asked the legitimate question of “how regularly do British children get their pocket money?” and then proceeded to queue with great joy to collect his citizenship certificate.

After a brief interval, organiser of the evening Jan Jack took to the stage and instantly started laying into Basingstoke only as someone from the town could. Making jokes about the crime levels in the borough and ‘failed attempts’ to make certain areas of the town look better.

Third on was Rachel Creeger, who sadly seemed to miss the mark with some of her jokes seeming to rattle through at such a pace, they did not give the punch lines enough time to breathe.

However, the night belonged to headline act Ben Norris, who had me doubled over from laughing almost immediately. Telling tales of what it is like being a father of triplets, explaining to the audience his two daughters are identical twins, which in his words is “a waste of resources”.

There was a surreal moment when every single pairing of male and female Norris picked on making the assumption they were a couple it turned out the majority were complete strangers to which he exclaimed “was there a Groupon for leave your wife at home night or something?”

If you haven’t already discovered Jan Jack’s Laughter House, then it is an experience worth going through.

The next Live at the Apollo Hotel event takes place on Thursday, 12 July, for more information visit laughterhousecomedy.club.