I've been tipping Canadian Bobby Mair for greatness ever since I stumbled into his 2013 Edinburgh show Obviously Adopted by accident. Though it actually looked as if Mair was the one that had had an accident. He appeared scruffy, distracted, a bit like a scrawny-bearded extra from Deliverance, but he definitely had something. His beard was rubbish but his comedy was great. His confessional autobiographical style – about being adopted, taking drugs, having a messed-up life – had something of Doug Stanhope about it, so I wasn't surprised to discover that Mair – who says he is distantly related to Justin Bieber, fact fans – had supported Stanhope. Since then however, Mair has been emerging as a distinctive performer in his own right and building up quite a reputation as a panel show pontificator. While 2014's Edinburgh show was a little scrappy on the night I saw it, the magic still shone through. And earlier this year he opened for Bill Maher at the Apollo and was bang on and won a lot of new fans. Much slicker, much more professional and his beard was better too, but he still oozed an air of devilish spontaneity. Judging by his current mug shot on this page Mair is smartening up his act. He might not look like an extra from Deliverance any more, but I still wouldn't want to mess with him.

Bobby Mair is at Heroes @ The Hive until Aug 31. Tickets here.