The docucomedy genre is part of the comedy landscape these days. If Dave Gorman pioneered it with shows such as A Better World, Are You Dave Gorman? and Googlewhack Adventure the format has spread and become a familiar style. It is typified by monologues that tell a personal story, often use powerpoint presentation and end with a dramatic emotional flourish. There are very few props, but this is about as near as stand-up comedy gets to theatre, taking the audience on a veritable journey.

Patrick Combs' show, Man 1, Bank 0, fits pretty well into the docucomedy genre even though I doubt if Combs knows of Gorman's work – it may even predate the Googlewhack man. There are no Gormanesque graphs or Venn Diagrams here, this is just a rollicking yarn about how one man took on the establishment, featuring eccentric characters and unexpected twists. It is a simple but effective live show and at one point Combs talks about a movie company being interested in filming his story – I can't believe it hasn't made the big screen yet. If Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore can have hits with variations on this form why not Combs? If they made it as a comedy Jim Carrey would be perfect casting. The show runs at the Soho Theatre until March 16, details here. A version of this review first appeared in the Evening Standard here.

When Patrick Combs received  one of those annoying junk mail cheques in the post he did not do what normal people do and file it in the bin. The impoverished San Francisco resident put it into his account and the $95,093.33 dud cleared. The bank, however, decided that it wanted its cash back. The rollercoaster true story of the tussle is told in Man 1, Bank 0.