russell howard at the echo arena

Now the puppy dog comedian has revealed he's returning to Liverpool in the winter - to perform his stand-up at the Echo Arena. Capacity a potential 10,000.
It's a career trajectory that I've seen before with comedians like Jimmy Carr and, latterly, Howard's fellow Mock the Weeker Andy Parsons who played a sellout show at the Phil during the comedy festival, while Al Murray has entertained the arena this year and Michael McIntyre has instantly sold out the Phil for later this month.
Are we seeing a resurgence of comedy as "the new rock 'n roll"? It started with Monty Python of course. When I was a student it was Baddiel and Newman filling stadiums. Then came the Little Britain team.
And now the new generation of funsters is giving it a go.
I like Russell Howard immensely and think he can be a very funny man, but I do worry slightly whether he will find it difficult to fill a decent chunk of what is a large arena.
Call me old fashioned but I still like a comedy show to be an intimate affair where you can sense the tension between the front row and the comedian, where you can see the beads of sweat on the performer's brow without it having to be beamed onto a giant screen......