A middle-aged man wearing a werewolf head, while standing in his pants, which are adorned with a tiny plastic penis. Apart from the middle-aged bit, that’s about as far away from the general perception of left-leaning Morrissey-lookalike non-Netflix comedian Stewart Lee as it’s possible to get.

However, that’s what a packed Hall for Cornwall got last night as he finally brought his latest show Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf down to the part of the world he loves, though you wouldn’t necessarily think that from his downpat derision of us Cornish – it wouldn’t be a Lee show without him asserting his dominance and intelligence as “the world’s greatest living stand-up comedian” (The Times), would it?

Stewart Lee is getting old, his body is giving up on him, the bullying comedy of cruelty and anger is getting big bucks on Netflix but he can’t get on telly. What does this liberal comic have to do? Unleash the beast inside and turn into a werewolf is the answer.

The first half is the set-up and is probably the finest hour of comedy I’ve ever seen from Lee and he’s been performing in Cornwall for years. In fact, he’s thinking of doing an under the radar tour of small venues like Penzance’s Acorn, he tells us, but we’re such a disappointing audience he won’t bother.

There aren’t many comedians who would insert mention of Kernow’s megalithic past, Cornwall-affiliated artists such as Ithell Colquhoun, Cornish nationalism and St Austell Brewery’s Tribute (” a Tribute to mass unemployment and the death of inherent culture” or words to that effect).

That a skit about hot tramps managed to take in climate change, the Mayor of Bodmin, David Bowie’s alleged thing for under-age groupies and society’s selective choosing of who it morally judges shows the measure and genius of the man. As did a very loud dropped cup in the audience which then turned into an extended joke about supermodels and time travel.

The fact that he giggled to himself during much of his disdain showed he was enjoying Wednesday night’s show and you can see why. This is rock’n’roll theatre for Lee. His arrival in the second half as the American shock-jock Man-Wulf – decked out in huge furry costume, lengthy claws and that miniscule member – singing a song that’s like Howard Stern fronting The Fall is wonderful.

His parody of aggressive comedians like Dave Chappelle was hilarious, simply by virtue of Stewart Lee being as un-Stewart Lee as it’s possible to get (“suck my dick”) while still being recognisably Stewart Lee. He, of course, then turns back and uses the werewolf energy to serve his left-leaning stand-up, beating the likes of Ricky Gervais at their own game.

Along the way Lee takes aim at Russell Brand, Gregg Wallace and Michael McIntyre’s late manager and then chides us for laughing at his death even though we probably didn’t. It’s all gloriously surreal even down to his final acoustic song, a spot-on pastiche of Bob Dylan through the decades.

It’s easy to forget Lee’s way with physical comedy – his attempt to sit on a stool, Dave Allen-style, while decked out in his over-sized wolf costume is utterly ridiculous in a good way as is the almost pantomime-level dry ice emerging from the wrong side of the stage.

This is probably his most populist show yet – if you have family or friends who thinks they hate Stewart Lee bring them to see The Man-Wulf. The rambling – there’s always rambling and there’s always a point to the rambling – is kept to a minimum. But like James Joyce and Can’s Mother Sky (both of which Lee would approve, I’m sure), the repetitive rambling is delicious.

There was a certain horrible irony that as Stewart Lee cleverly deconstructed this era’s right-wing alpha male on stage in Truro, something shocking happened in America to someone who fits that mould. Not a laughing matter.

As Stewart Lee wrong-footed us again at the show’s end with what appeared to be a warm, human story about his teenage son, I was already clicking on the Hall for Cornwall website looking for tickets to see this same glorious spectacle when it returns in almost exactly a year’s time. They go on sale on Monday here.