Often it is the simpler, observational anecdotes that work best in a comedy show, and Bermuda's Nadanja Bailey proved the point himself scoring some of the best comic bull's eyes on a night that brought three big name comedians from the US to Bermuda.

Mr. Bailey hit the mark with a tale about a steamy, hot July evening at home with a girl watching a movie. While he was strolling around in boxer's and vest, she was sweating away but reluctant to relax and take her tight jeans off. So he turned the air conditioning off and she commented how hot it was, but still kept her jeans on. She then asked for a drink, so he went and got her . . . a cup of tea.

And when Mr. Bailey talks about being lactose intolerant, but 'tolerating' ice cream at Double Dip only to subsequently suffer a wind problem in his taxi just as someone hails his cab, the joke comes alive because of the slightly underplayed, down-to-earth manner of his delivery.

As birthday party's go, Nadanja's Birthday Comedy Show is going to take some topping. The comedian, who turned 33 yesterday, celebrated on Saturday night with a show at the Mid-Ocean Ampitheatre in the Fairmont Southampton. He had gathered three Stateside comedians to fill his roster, but left space for homegrown talent too.

In fact, it was the local stars who had the edge on the night. Singer Lita Marie gave a memorable performance of her original song about breaking up and telling her man to be gone by noon.

According to Mr. Bailey, he got into the song on first hearing it when Ms Marie performed it at the Island's Mary J Blige concert in August, and it was easy to hear why. With its catchy lyrics and well-paced delivery, the song has hit written all over it and Ms Marie is surely a star in the making if she can promote herself in the right places.

The evening got going with Bermuda Idol former winner Candace Furbert belting out a Gospel opener before fellow Idol winner Sia Spence mellowed things with a soulful number and then a duet.

After easing the audience into the evening's entertainment, it was time for the comedy to begin. First up it was Lady Saw and Beanie Man who had the audience in stitches with a comic music number, and this was followed by a skit from the Two Fools about what not to do when going for a job interview. Amongst the 'no no's' was mentioning your previous work as being a street pharmacist, and putting down Howard University under college experience on your resume because you'd spent a day in a class there while visiting your cousin and had been asked a question by a teacher.

The laughter then moved into top gear as the first of the three American comedians took to the stage. Philadelphia's Lawrence Killebrew took aim at people who text rather than call, and on the crushing feeling when you spill your deepest feeling and thoughts out in a text only to get a simple 'ok' as a reply - or worse, simply a 'k'.

Mr. Killebrew also observed the difference in a white person getting angry and a black person. A white person who asks for a Big Mac without pickles at a McDonald's will fume and demand to see the manager when he is served the pickles by mistake, according to Mr. Killebrew, but a black person would make sure they had taken a bite of the burger first before going back to the counter and then asking for some free fries to make up for the error.

New York's Kareem Green also brought some incisive observational humour to the evening, with a tale of how everyone in New York City is judging everyone else around them. Even the bums look down on other bums, "Yeah, I might smell of p*** but he smells of s***!"

Mr. Green also lamented how if comedy doesn't work out for him he may have to revert to crime, but that was something he'd rather not do as he 'Can't even do the wrong thing right' and joked about how even drugheads wouldn't buy from him.

As a finale, Mr. Green compared getting booed at the Apollo in Harlem to getting booed in Brooklyn. At the Apollo the boos lasted until he'd left the stage, but in Brooklyn the audiences would boo all the way out onto the street and even when he got into a car, breathing on the windows and writing 'boo' in the condensation. Even a deaf man booed him in sign language.

There were no boos, only applause and laughter for Mr. Green at the Fairmont Southampton on Saturday, as there was for the final act of the evening, New Jersey's Crazy J.

Crazy J's best moment came with his impersonations of gay men checking out the room at a night club, bringing waves of laughter across the auditorium, which only increased as he moved into more adult-orientated material as the clock edged towards midnight.

It was a delightful night of comedy, and a fitting birthday prelude for Mr. Bailey, who was given with a giant birthday cake by of staff Image Entertainment who presented the show.

The American comics were good, as were the early show Bermudian comedians and singers, but for this reviewer it was Mr. Bailey himself and Lita Marie who provided the most memorable moments.