(Sat 23rd Feb / 7.30pm / £5/4)
(Carl Reiner / 1982 / USA / 88 minutes / Certificate PG)

After an hour plus of quality stand up, we are showing "Dead Men don't Wear Plaid". Both a spoof of, and an homage to 1940s/50s Hollywood film noir, clips from classic films are seamlessly incorporated to allow Steve Martin, as private eye Rigby Reardon,to appear on screen with luminaries including Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, James Cagney and Kirk Douglas. The dames include Bette Davis, Veronica Lake and Lana Turner.

To get the right look, director of photography Michael Chapman studied the angles and lighting popular among '40s film noir, conducting six months of research with Technicolor to try to match the old film clips with his new footage. Martin and his co-star Rachel Ward's costumes were designed by the legendary Edith Head (her last film). All that effort pays off in spades. The plot? it includes the obligatory femme fatales, murder, mystery and Nazi villains. A treat for comedy fans and film buffs too.

If you want to give stand up a go, e-mail marian@cubecinema.com to get a spot at a future Comedy Combo.