Simon Munnery is well established as the outsider-prophet of British comedy, a talent too unwieldy for the mainstream to handle. But sometimes maverick reputations can conceal wilful caprice.
These performances are ostensibly the latest in Munnery's Annual General Meetings series, where he solicits topics for discussion from the audience. But tonight we're not invited to contribute, as he meanders along a path littered with scraps of so-so stand-up and a funny, but overlong, hand-operated cartoon starring the two men who were crucified next to Jesus. There are also chunks of character comedy, including a flash of Munnery's dated smash-the-state alter ego Alan Parker: Urban Warrior, and of the Security Guard who is not so much a character as just a different hat.
It often seems that we're being given variety in place of rigour. Which is frustrating because Munnery shows us enough to feel keenly how good he could be. His brittle idealism is always likeable, and he has a neat line in conceptual, world-subverting one-liners. He quotes one critic as calling his show "the closest comedy gets to modern art" - and then amusingly explores that remark's full implications, with the help of Venn diagrams. If I were a shareholder at Munnery's AGM, I'd tell him: focus on your assets and spend less time on any other business.
· Until July 19. Box office: 0870 429 6883.
