Alfie Brown has always been known to be one of comedy’s more thoughtful stand-ups. One where you can’t help but resort to cliches such as “taboo-busting” and that worst cliche of all, “edgy”. So maybe it was only a matter of time before the woke police caught up with him. To cut to the chase an old social media post was unearthed recently where he used the n-word and Brown was ‘cancelled’. Not even A Brown comic (get it?) is allowed to use the n word, even in context.

His latest show tells the story and the back story of what happened and the subsequent fallout, financial and emotional. He does it in his own trademark style, digging down into his own thought processes. Brown is nothing if not a deep, philosophical thinker, whether it is talking about race, remorse, nepo babies, the nature of empathy or the possibility that killing a child might be justified.

This is a bold, controversial show in which he sets out his right of reply and also a show where audience members might not necessarily feel at ease. He can’t resist drawing attention to jokes that don’t quite land or faces that don’t seem to be smiling. At one point on the night I was in a woman went to the toilet at a pivotal moment and Brown immediately questioned her partner’s life choices.

But if all of this makes it sound as if Brown should be doing gigs at some Socratic symposium rather than at the Edinburgh Fringe it is important to mention that Open Hearted Human Enquiry is also very funny. One of a number of framing devices is a holiday at Center Parcs which has the mandatory holiday-from-hell laughs you might expect. There’s a terrific Denis Norden impression and possibly the best Steve Coogan-related gag you will ever hear.

Brown has certainly had a turbulent time recently, having to deal with bereavement as well as a personal career backlash. Fans will be familiar with his unconventional relationship with the mother of his four children Jessie Cave. He is typically candid describing their relationship, explaining that he loves her more and more. If his love was plotted on a graph there would be some days when the line would dip, he adds, but sounding like a BBC News financial reporter he adds that the general trend is upwards.

It would spoil the show to go into too much detail but this is a compelling, complex work that covers all sorts of emotions, from hate and tears to happiness as Brown reflects on his own upbringing and the way he is trying to bring up his own children, with all the frustrations that having four young children entails.

He is also a fantastic stand-up technician. He won’t like the comparison one little bit, but there are whiffs of Stewart Lee here as he deconstructs his jokes in real-time, almost as soon as they have been delivered. It’s a show in which he takes a look deep inside himself, but somehow it never feels narcissistic or indulgent, partly because he is fully aware of his own existential absurdity. It is immaulately structured too.

Of all the Fringe shows I’ve seen so far this is the one that has moved me the most and made me think the most. It's a little bit what we call in the trade 'comedian's comedian' comedy, but it's also much more than that. Anyway, enough of all of this. I could bore you for hours discussing it. It would be easier for you to scroll to the bottom of this page and check the star rating.

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Until August 25. Details and tickets here.

*****