HILARIOUS gags, side splitting jokes, comedians scaling the theatre balcony and Johnny falling off a potter’s wheel.

That was all in a single night on Saturday when comics from across the North West came together with Johnny Vegas to say goodbye to the Citadel as an arts venue.

The packed out theatre, which sold out in just a couple of weeks, watched eagerly as Thatto Heath born Johnny took to the stage where his career started to bid it a fond farewell.

Fellow stand-ups had the audience in tears of laughter, delivering a brand of northern humour that the stage was once famed for.

Duncan Oakley, Lucy Beaumont, comic poet JB Barrington, Keith Carter and Phil Ellis brought their own ingredients to create a cracker of a show.

Ellis’ act included dousing himself in Guinness, barricading the theatre doors and climbing from the stage to the balcony.

Entertainment was also provided by Jack Bennett, the former lead singer of Stillia, who thrilled the audience by delivering an acoustic set and playing requests.

Not to be left out, Johnny got in on the action to demonstrate his own “singing voice”, performing a version of Don’t Cry from Me Argentina, from the musical Evita, with his distinctive St Helens accent.

The night was compered throughout by Johnny, who finished the show by a bringing a potter’s wheel on to stage (he studied pottery at college).

Joined by Ellis, they recreated a famous scene from Ghost, the film which featured Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze.

The hilarious turn ended with both of them shirtless, Phil on the floor holding an umbrella donated by an audience member, coins on his eyes and Johnny dribbling Guinness on him...we’ll just leave that there.

The final act saw Johnny saying goodbye to where his career began.

Somewhat haphazardly, he climbed upon his potter’s wheel singing ‘New York, New York’ before wobbling and falling on to the stage, which led to gasps from the audience.

He has since assured his fans that he is OK and is just a bit battered and bruised. He is sending the potter’s wheel back into storage for awhile.

The Citadel’s closure is a huge loss for the borough.

In recent years, it may have lost some of the magic of its heyday. But it was a place of arts and community for so many creative people.

So how do you sum up the venue’s final night?

Well Johnny did it better than anyone else.

It purely was a night of “comedy and chaos” and the crowd loved every minute of it.