Ever worried that you might go to a medic a minor issue and find yourself in a psychiatric ward? No, me neither. But that's what happened to US comic Jamie Wolf and it makes the compelling central spine of his impressive Edinburgh Fringe debut, Psycho.

 

But before we get to this compelling, disturbing chapter there's some rock solid stand-up to get through. Wolf is strangely refreshing. Not because he was doing anything new, but because he is doing some classic, slick, rapidfire stand-up, the kind of of style that Americans used to excel at two decades ago.

 

Call it throwback if you like, but Wolf nails it every time. There's material about his family, material about waterparks, diarrhea and his social anxiety. There a terrific bit of business about skydiving strapped to his instructor and struggling to make smalltalk complete with act out. He is very good on concise, efficient physicality.

 

But it's when Wolf gets onto his medical history that the show really comes alive. Firstly with a story about having appendicitis. After taking an Uber to the hospital he was swiftly operated on and just as swiftly landed with a hefty bill. I could sense the British audience collectively giving thanks to the NHS between the laughs.

 

But worse was to come. After a bout of existential angst after his grandmother's death he found himself in a psychiatric ward. It's the real stuff of nightmares, a Catch 22 scenario where the more he tried to behave normally the more they thought he was nuts - after all, who would behave normally when the patient next door is repeatedly banging their head into the wall?

 

To say more would spoil the tale, which shuttles between dark humour and lighter moments. Actually, scrub that, the humour is pretty dark throughout this section. Let's just say Wolf got out and lived to tall the tale. Lucky for him and lucky for us too – put Jamie Wolf in your diary and underline it.