I was so shocked by Martin Urbano's material that it took me a few minutes to get my head around it. Was this an American version of Jerry Sadowitz, pushing the offensiveness envelope as far as it would go? Or was it a very subtle character act commenting on the nature of cancel culture.

 

Gradually I concluded that it was the latter, as Urbano – on the surface the epitome of the slick, smart, stylish American club comic gearing up for his next stand-up special – ran through most a taboo topic tick list in a show that purported to be part of his comeback tour after some unspecified #metoo incident. 

 

Much of the humour homed in on sexism and racism and paedophilia gags and was not for the fainthearted. there is always a slight concern with this kind of act that it can be misread – half the audience appreciate the nuance and what a comic like this is trying to do, half just like the ironic misogyny.

 

On the day I was there the predominantly male audience did get the gag but I did wonder if it always plays this way. Urbano is walking a very tricky comedy taboos tightrope. He certainly does it very well indeed and with total commitment and deserves his Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination.