THERE'S no need to pump up the volume when Lenny Henry's on stage.

In exuberant mood, he strode on to the stage of Aldershot's Princes Hall on Sunday night and delivered his rafter-rattling comic punch.

Charting his Jamaican family's history since arrival in Britain in the 50s on the Windrush, Lenny let rip with the funny side of immigration.

From the nostalgically comic Pathé News film charting the arrival of be-hatted and suited West Indian immigrants, to still shots of a young, but still recognisable, Lenny and his mother, there was affection behind the laughter.

"It's fantastic being a grown-up," he hoots. But is he? The Tiswas years have left their mark on the nation's consciousness. He may be in his 40s but the child will out.

A keen observer of the soul of his family and, by British standards, their eccentric way of life, Lenny shares his unsentimental and hilarious memories.

Anyone who saw the beginning of Lenny's tour in March at Guildford will notice considerable change to the show.

He's concentrating now exclusively on his family, having excised anecdotes about his more recent life on TV.

That's a pity because the new show does linger too long on some aspects, and Lenny's own "funeral" errs on the side of tedium.

But if you want to experience the full force of Jamaican parenting - no rods spared here- or what really goes on at a reggae party, Lenny's your man.

Striking a chord with his audience in his complete loss of interest in losing weight, Lenny let rip with comic militance.

"Things that are good for you are horrible," raised a cheer. "It's no wonder there's no Quorn Express or Salad Hut," he chortles.

This, according to Lenny, is the more militant Henry; the joker has grown more impatient. We might share his hatred on automated telephone answering services but his fury segues into giggles.

Frequently interrupted by loud but delighted gurglings from the wheelchair section of the audience, Lenny "re-wound" his patter like the trouper he is and kept smiling.

Although this latest version of his tour is more rounded in its biographical detail, it has lost a little of its edge.

Where were his wildly funny tales of being alone in the alien jungle for the benefit of the TV cameras, or of sailing with Tony Bullimore? Much missed.

Sandy Baker