James Acaster’s Latitude set should have been an easy one. A chance to run through his forthcoming Edinburgh show, Reset, about how wouldn’t it be great if one could hit s reset button in one’s life when things go pear-shaped like you can do when you are playing Tetris. The Kettering comic probably wished he could have hit reset and done this gig again. 

All seemed to be going smoothly as he explained this premise but there was a lone voice at the back of the tent that was clearly disturbing Acaster. He shot him down once to a round of applause, but then as he got going again the lone heckler gradually started to pipe up again. Sensing things needed to be resolved  – and security didn’t appear about to eject the man – Acaster took the initiative and got down offstage to confront him.

This is where things got weird. the man seemed to be all alone. not just friendless but people had been shuffling away from him so that there was a doughnut-shaped space between him and everybody else. He was clearly worse for wear in various ways, as Acaster discovered. It was something to do with him burning his foot when he was cooking.

The comic boldly held his hand – though maybe he didn’t have much choice, the man was very persistent – and at one point leaned in and almost kissed him, something he immediately regretted. It seemed to do the trick though. Whether it was this Jesus-like blessing but the man finally fell silent. Or maybe he passed out.  

Once back onstage it was never going to be easy for such a craftsman to resume his scripted set where he left off, so instead he addressed the issue of Brexit with a wonderful metaphor of whether it is better to leave a peppermint teabag in or take it out. If that wasn’t in his original set i hope it stays there now.

While the structure might have been altered, there were plenty of new routines here that suggest that Reset will be every bit as strong as his previous Edinburgh shows. he had a neat story about the honey business, a gripe against museum museum rubbers and his impression of a praying mantis definitely deserves an award, even if it is only Best Impersonation of a Praying Mantis. 

There was no compere after Acaster which gave him the opportunity to introduce the next act, his friend Josh Widdicombe, by saying that his traditional big finish was to kiss a man with a burnt foot. No pressure on Widdicombe then. Read a review of what happened next here…

More Latitude Reviews here.