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Steve Shanyaski is the epitome of the modern club comic. He’s slick, confident and gets results, but largely by avoiding doing anything too interesting.

The bulk of his set is about his girlfriend, who is variously fat, argumentative or drunk. She takes all the wardrobe space, fills the house with candles and soft furnishing and won’t concede defeat in any argument – until he goes out and buys her expensive flowers.

His description of this domestic arrangement is recognisable to a lot of people – especially the partner coming home after a heavy night on the town – which is why it goes down so well – but also why so many comedians plough this furrow.

That means it’s hard to stand out, and for a large part of his Shanyaski indeed falls very easily in with the comedy consensus. Also fished from the generic pool are gags about working-class kids having ridiculous names, a one-chord song about internet dating being full of frauds and the tired old ‘…and that was just my nan!’-style reveals.

Yet he can sometimes transcend these uninspired starting points. His idea of what an unpretentious wine-bottle should really say might go on for too long, but it contains a couple of cracking lines, while his impression of a Northern girl having sex is uproariously funny.

Odd lines here and there continually add slithers of sparkle to the otherwise mundane material, whether it be a perfect analogy for vivid blue alcopops, or a description of the nipple he cheekily dares the audience to disagree with. Such moments show a potential for more imaginative thinking that Shanyaski largely fights shy of.

With delivery like a camp Peter Kay, he’s certainly got charisma and can easily command a room. If only he would use that charm to go off the route of zero resistance a little more often, he could be interesting as well as crowd-pleasing.

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I've seen Steve two or three times over the past 18 months and have never been disappointed. Last weekend he performed to a small audience at a local cricket club and, giving it 100%, left everyone very well entertained. I'd encourage anyone in two minds to discount the negative comments and give the guy a hearing because he is well worth it.

Ben, March 2010

I have had the pleasure of working with Steve every night in Edinburgh for the last month and have found him brilliantly funny. I have rarely laughed as much when watching a comic. He's actually a lot smarter and more self aware than most would think and his improvised rants are up there with the best of them. Funny guy and a really nice bloke too.

matt price, August 2009

Just checked him out on You Tube, before risking £15 on a ticket next Saturday. I think I'll stay in with a takeaway.

Charlotte Castle, August 2008

Absolutely brilliant. Came to Lincoln and absolutely stormed it. Original, catchy songs; fantastic observational jokes, and a cheeky charm that could win over any crowd.

Lou, November 2006

Saw him in Rotherham and he performed as though he did not want to earn a living. He had prepared no material and just shared various in-jokes and knowing looks with his entourage who appeared to find him hillarious. Maybe if he acted like he wanted his gig to go well and wrote some original material he would get the whole audience onside.

John Hague, August 2006

Saw him at the New Stuff gig at the Comedy Store tonight and basically he had no right to be there. He hadn't prepared any material at all, and all he brought with him was an ego big enough to assume he could just wing it. Well, sadly he couldn't and his arrogance was simply embarassing. Not a single gag in sight

Dave, March 2006

Irritating. Comes off like a gay bloke doing a parody of a misogynist lad comic.

Mamie Van Doren, October 2005

Brilliant. totally chilled, bubbly guy, banging out loads of laughs. He raised the night up wonderfully. Might not be everyone's cuppa, but certainly was for the 400 strong audience I was sat in.

Mike H, October 2005

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