08 Culture Diary: Attack of the Liver Birds/ Unity Theatre; COMEDY.

Byline: CLARE HICKIE

WHEN Scouse scally Nige is on stage, I am both in fits of laughter and wideeyed in surprise at the stories he tells.

To give you a flavour of comedian Keith Carter's character: his best friend is called Dog Sh** Barry; he was relieved to discover his gorgeous landlady was a vampire instead of a prostitute; and when he was little his family was teased because his dad had a job - even if it was only painting artificial limbs.

They were still too poor to buy Nige toys, so his dad made him a bike out of a plastic thigh and arms.

And this is the man who is credited with singlehandedly swinging the Capital of Culture title Liverpool's way.

And, due to a lack of official recognition by Culture leaders, Carter has been presenting a series of one-off shows called Nige's Guide to the Capital of Culture. Part two was titled Attack of the Liver Birds.

With the help of cowriters and performers Iain Christie, Stanley McHale and Lee Fenwick, the audience was treated to key scenes.

Maybe the biggest surprise of the evening was seeing Carter take on several other roles as well as Nige, including a true thespian, and a cuckolded bird twitcher,.

Rather than detracting from Nige's character, it only served to show the greater breadth of Carter's talents.

And no-one in Liverpool was safe from the Liver Birds killer "weed" rays, or Carter's caustic wit.

What Carter has in store for part three of his Culture Guide is anybody's guess, but count me in.