At Home With The Crackheads (C4)

AT one point you could tell stand-up comedian Omid Djalili wondered if he was doing the right thing in temporarily abandoning the stage to spend two days with a couple of drug addicts.

Here he was "as a bogus cab driver for a couple of homeless blokes who are trying a scam to get ten quid off some blokes so they can immediately go and buy some crack and shoot up in some filthy, urine-infested, excreta-on-the-wall, puke-everywhere place".

The problem was that he became emotionally involved with his subjects, Yankee and Jim. His aim, he said at the start, was to see if they were "sad bad or simply bad". In reality, he couldn't help but sympathise with their situation.

Yankee was remarkably lucid and forthcoming despite his £100 a day drug habit. He sold fake drugs (the contents of herbal tea bags) and worked several other scams to raise money to pay for his own drugs.

Djalili admitted to feeling like a fish out of water as he accompanied Yankee to his bachelor pad - a car parked illegally in London's Camden area. He even spent the night in the car with Yankee and his friend.

Jim was a different prospect. Three years ago he had a partner, two children, a proper home and a job. Now he, like Yankee, has a drug habit costing him £100 a day.

He took up drugs after splitting with his partner and his father's sudden death. It's a good job everyone doesn't do the same or where would the country be?

Djalili spent the night with Jim too, after selecting his bed linen - cardboard boxes out of a rubbish skip. You had to admire his willingness to stick with his subjects without nipping home for a bath and clean sheets.

Three weeks later after Djalili's visit, Jim decided to get off drugs, detoxing himself without professional help or painkillers. When he disappeared from the room he was living in, Djalili went in search of him.

And if he didn't manage to make a difference to the lives of Yankee or Jim, his time wasn't wasted. As we saw in excerpts from his stage act, he used the experiences in his stand-up performances.

Is this the final farewell?

The Blues Brothers, Newcastle Theatre Royal

SIT back or stand up and prepare to party: the Blues Brothers are back by popular demand. Jake and Elwood, with their special guest Antonio ('Huggy Bear') Fargas, are at Newcastle's Theatre Royal until Saturday, which might explain the number of people down Grainger Street in shades and pork-pie hats.

You don't have to dress like the Blues Brothers to share their music, though. Jake describes it as a review of soul, blues and rhythm and blues, although that doesn't really cover their memorable rendition of the theme from Rawhide and Rolf Harris's Two Little Boys.

Simon Foster as Elwood, the role created by Dan Ackroyd, and Brad Henshaw in the John Belushi role of Jake, are so completely in character that you wonder what they're like off-stage. Does Elwood ever crack a smile? Does Jake really wear trousers like that? Do they never take off their hats?

Musically it's a very tight show; backing singers Krysten Cummings, Paul Murphy and Joe Speare also provide solo performances with Elwood and Jake doing the back-up, and the harmonies and phrasing are spot-on.

Each member of the band gets a chance to show his considerable expertise, and of course everyone in the audience is invited to jump about, wave their arms and generally have a wild time. It's not difficult in the company of the Blues Brothers. This tour, like the last one, is billed as the final, farewell performance.

Just in case they're serious this time, don't miss it!

Sue Heath

The Blues Brothers, Monday, April 29 - Saturday, May 4. Booking Office: 0191-2322061