Simon Amstell, comedy review: Comedy gold in Amstell's existential angst

Comedians are hardly averse to talking about themselves onstage, but few dig as deep as Simon Amstell. In What Is This? he finds comedy gold by analysing his existential angst. He has come a long way from his waspish pop star put-downs on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

The first third of this show is split-your-sides hilarious. Life is futile, he suggests. Whether we win the Olympics or have a dream home we all die. There are beautifully bleak edges to his deadpan reflections on mortality.

Our rake-thin raconteur then delves into his intimacy issues and his inability to live in the moment. He puts much down to his teenage reluctance to acknowledge his homosexuality. He finally lost his virginity in Paris. A droll description of the event makes it sound like Moonlight directed by Woody Allen.

This could be painfully indulgent, but his revelations are given an entertaining sheen thanks to a sense of his own absurdity. Whether recalling orgies in America, therapy in London or his troubled childhood in Romford he always sees the funny side. When he starts an anecdote about visiting a sweat lodge, one expects him to say it is in Peru or Arizona, not Norfolk and he knows it.

Like David Baddiel and Russell Brand, Amstell's appeal is partly down to his lack of an edit button and his absolute candour. In one extended routine he recalls discovering MDMA and wonders why alcohol and cigarettes are legal but something that makes people happy is not. If you want to smile, however, there is no need for mind-altering drugs, just go and see Simon Amstell.

Sept 27 & 28 then touring; simonamstell.com