Ambling on stage with a smile and a wink, Jim Davidson launched into the kind of stand-up act that once upon a time would have earned him a welter of red-top headlines.

Shooting from the lip, he blasted his way through material that careered from one taboo to another. This was not a show for the faint-hearted. Needless to say the faint hearted had stayed at home.

As Jim riffed effortlessly on incontinence, the limbless, the obese, benefit seekers and ethnic minorities, the audience remained firmly on message. By the time he’d got his teeth (almost literally) into sex, he was firing on all cylinders and delving into areas that are completely out of bounds to family newspapers.

Davidson regularly bats away accusations of sexism and racism with practised ease and is such a skilful comedy performer that even his most shocking gags are very funny. That of course is down to delivery. Not content.

This show veered from the scatological to the political without missing a beat.

Even a heartfelt tribute to Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging the Red Arrows pilot who lost his life after crashing following a performance at the Bournemouth Air Festival was tinged with black humour.

But that’s Jim Davidson. His reputation goes before him. As long as people buy tickets to his shows, he’s not going to go away.