Do reviews matter? In 2018 early on during the Fringe I reviewed Tom Ward's show and gave it three stars. Towards the end of the festival I was googling around and saw that Ward had written something about seeing a really depressing review at the start of his run. He didn't name me, but I've always had a niggle that it was my review that dented his mental well-being during that Fringe. It probably made it worse that I said it was his best show yet and still only gave it three measly stars.

So the good news is that this year Ward gets an extra star for what now counts as his best show yet. Anthem finds Ward shooting the breeze late at night about all sorts of things on his mind, but what is really winning is his style as much as his content. And we aren't talking about his much talked about Lego-man helmet hairstyle. He's got an odd, offbeat lilt, somewhere between a slick continuity announcer and a stoner. If he doesn't have a side hustle doing voiceovers he should.

Ward is an inventive, imaginative comedian, not just a skilful stand-up with scripted gags, but good at banter and good with sound effects. He gets the crowd going quickly with a call-and-response song about houseshares (for some reason the search for the perfect accommodation seems to be a running theme in his life), before getting stuck in with jokes about people who name their children after books and baristas who call everyone "dude". 

Elsewhere there is a smart routine about mental health, a discussion on the pros and cons of Prozac and whether he can still call himself bisexual given that it's a long time since he did anything that might be construed as not traditionally heterosexual. It is all delivered in a chilled but chirpy manner like a post-rave Micky Flanagan. 

I think one of the reasons I gave him three stars in 2018 was that I'd always liked his shorter sets and I had particularly high hopes of his Edinburgh show. It's a bit like having greater expectations for your own children than the children of strangers because you love them so much. Anthem is a really enjoyable show that's different to anything else you might see on the Fringe. This time round I am delighted to confirm for anyone googling this review that Tom Ward has not disappointed me.

Tom Ward, Monkey Barrel until August 28. Buy tickets here.

four stars