There has been a lot of talk at the Fringe this year about comedians mining their own trauma for material. It used to be dead dad shows, but that has now been overtaken by shows more specifially about mental health, ADHD and autism. So it's refreshing to see a show that is incredibly funny about something incredibly trivial. In the case of Eric Rushton, it's a show about an email that was written in the heat of the moment that spiralled out of control. A bit.

Last year Rushton was the first winner of The Channel 4 Sean Lock Comedy Award, designed to showcase talented new writers and performers who embodied the alternative comedic spirit of Sean. He is a relatively new name to me and while he has an offbeat sensibilty that has hints of Lock about it, he reminds me more of a young Daniel Kitson, which may be partly down to the nerdy anorak chic, the spectacles and the northern accent as well as the talent for a great comic line.

Rushton's show Real One recalls the time when he took a job as a teaching assistant at his old school. It was a strange experience, finally finding out the first names of teachers who were once called Sir, but also a strange one. The same and yet different as it unearthed and stirred up all sorts of memories of his childhood.

And then just as he was settling in, in a dramatic turn of events...someone used his decaf coffee that was stored in the staff room. Rushton sent out an email which could have been construed as vaguely threatening and, just like being a pupil once again, he was summoned to the head's office....

It's not exactly Raymond Carver but this small simple incident takes us on a journey into Rushton's mind, a world of low level bullying and Pritt glue on trousers looking like dried spunk. His thoights spin off into all sorts of directions as he reflects on his hopes and dreams and depression and how he could have done things differently when it came to drawing attention to his missing coffee.

I won't reveal how the drama pans out. While it is weirdly gripping I can't quite see Netflix snapping it up. What I will say though is that this mundane event is a brilliant showcase for Rushton's writing and performance skills. He paints such a vivid picture you feel as if you are back in those echoing corridors yourself once again. And while his persona is distinctly low status and self-deprecating he has deceptively impressive control over his audience. 

At the start of the gig Rushton announced that he had enough change to offer one person a full refund if they didn't like the show, but it was on a first come first served basis. Needless to say nobody took him up on his offer.

Read more Edinburgh reviews here.

Until August 25. Tickets and info here.

Picture: Shane Coles

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