This year the Gilded Balloon’s annual talent search went global. The 10-strong line-up was one of the most international competition line-ups I’ve ever seen, proving, if nothing else, that people who have English as a first language do not have a monopoly on good humour.

First up, however, was an archetypal Englishman. Ben Pope looked like your off-the-peg scruffy, studenty Brit. Pope was unapologetically posh and got a few good gags out of his top quality breeding. He also got a good laugh out of skewering the idea that imagining your audience naked will relax you. Why would looking at a sea of genitals calm you? Going on first is never easy and the fast-talking Pope was always on the cusp of gabbling, but, following compere Zoe Lyons, got the evening off to a good, if safe, start. 

Second on was a comic from South Africa with Indian roots Yumna Mohamed, who has also spent time living in a America. With all these cards in her comedy deck it was a shame she kicked off with a well-trod routine about her strict parents wanting to marry her off. But there was were nice lines here and Mohamed had an interesting delivery. Whether it was nerves or her accent, there was something engagingly deadpan about her style. And when she moved on to stories about living in America the material picked up too. Not the most charismatic of acts, but pretty good.

Neil O’Rourke got us back to more familiar territory with his tales of moving from Ireland to London where he was recently mugged by a man brandishing a rat. This became a running gag in his short set, but he was not quite punchy enough to pull it off. The more whimsical moments were better, even if they did evoke the spirit of David O’Doherty. 

Matilda Wnek’s short set about rape seemed to wrongfoot the audience, who weren’t sure if by laughing they were laughing at rape victims. Of course Wnek’s material was much smarter than that as she discussed a variety of rape alarms she had been sent to try out as a student. One of them was called ‘Dusk’ as if it was a sexy perfume. This was a quietly powerful routine that did not get a lot of laughs but I should imagine earnt her a lot of respect from the judges. Not enough to win her the title though, but she is definitely a performer to watch.

Last up in the first half was Andrew Lawrence, er, sorry, Red Richardson. With Lawrence latterly going down a more political route it felt as if Richardson had spotted a gap in the market for a deadpan self-loathing stand-up with a rich line in bad taste asides. Richardson’s routines about feeling awkward at a club when they played R&B and his paedophile material suggested a twisted mind behind the standard jeans and T-shirt demeanour. Maybe he needs to dye his hair the colour of his name and develop an even stronger sociopathic streak, but if you like your comedy dark Red did have something.

Review continues here.