At the Empire, in a fit of irrational exuberance, MacIntyre launched into a solo mini-set at the piano for an encore – which would have been OK had he not dragged it out into a paroxysm of under-rehearsed and painfully elongated soul-baring.

paroxysm (n) : a sudden uncontrollable attack; ”a paroxysm of giggling”; ”a fit of coughing” [syn: fit] – source: The Guardian 7.4.2002, p. 22