Tough Gig

Sent to a self-discovery commune in Dorset, Frank Skinner lived with them for five days and then had to perform a stand-up routine about his experiences to the commune members, who were understandably afraid of being mocked.

Showing a kinder side to his nature, Skinner very skilfully won them over while poking gentle fun at their foibles, but mainly mocking his own insecurities. It was attractively warm.

The trouble is that the camera had shown us a screamingly funny tantric sex session in which one screechingly quasi-orgasmic woman "really went for it", according to Frank, who laughed uncontrollably to camera. In his act, this was watered down.

Is his responsibility to the joke, the feelings of his victim or telling the truth?

Frank Skinner's Tough Gig dragged the comic from his comedy comfort zone and sent him off to live amongst hippies and huggers at a New Age retreat in Devon. At the end of the week, Skinner had to perform a brand new stand-up routine, based upon his experience, with his former hosts becoming his audience.

What made this programme so delightful was Skinner's positive approach to the task. A lazier, less confident comic would have taken the opportunity to ridicule a particularly soft target. Instead, Skinner was open-minded, sensitive, inquisitive, respectful and polite. He was also, I should add, very funny as well. Being embraced on a regular basis didn't hug all the humour out of him.

Any mockery was of a gentle, affectionate nature. A particularly enthusiastic participant in the tantric sex workshop set Skinner off into an uncontrollable fit of the giggles. "Who puts their arms in the air when they orgasm?" Skinner later asked his video diary. "Unless it's at gunpoint."

By the time Skinner took to the stage, he had so thoroughly ingratiated himself into the community that his "tough gig" must have been one of the easiest he's ever played.