Daniel Kitson Brighton Komedia, touring until 26 Feb
Daniel Kitson is a lo-fi romantic. He despises mass culture, drunkenness, X-Factor pop; he celebrates instead the fragile intimacy of fellow geeks who swap painstakingly compiled mix-tapes and dream of locking eyes with the sort of girl who also worries about the popularity of Coldplay. Everything about the shy, Barnsley-born Kitson has low production values. He dresses like an Eighties Open University lecturer. He clutches a black notebook from which he occasionally checks his material. As approaches go, it's precarious. This is the second night of his 20-date tour. 'Last night,' he announces, 'I was shit.' He stutters and lisps. There are the moments when he delivers his material not to the audience but to the stage curtains. But what makes you laugh is the glorious bittersweetness and extraordinary wit of the potty-mouthed visions he suddenly explodes into. He is a supreme comedian; deftly teasing us for over two hours. Early in his career he flirted with mainstream TV in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights - an experience he now regards with revulsion. He's happier here, in his own shambolic, strangely moral indie universe.
