Adam Buxton: Kernel Panic @ Gorilla, Manchester, 30 Nov

Adam Buxton’s latest show Kernel Panic is similar to his regular BUG shows, but while it does cover some of the same ground, it also sees him throw in some new nuggets of silliness for good measure. Think of it as BUG+ if you will.

The show’s loose premise involves Dr Buckles walking us through the various folders on his MacBook or, as he calls it, his “laptop full of bullshit”. We take in themes ranging from aborted projects Buxton started with his children to examples of strange dreams he has had and translated into video form. Other highlights include Buxton sharing with us his latest ailment (severe earache) and his decision to pay a visit to hospital rather than following his wife’s advice to “man up”.  Likewise a section focusing on Buxton’s obsession with David Bowie is mined for numerous laughs, and includes an animated video focusing on the singer’s recording of Brian Eno-influenced ambient music. It’s every bit as delightfully bizarre as it sounds.

Where Buxton really shines, though, is with his bread and butter, the brilliant dissection of YouTube comments posted by Joe Public. Fans of his BUG shows will know what to expect here, and while the premise sounds relatively simple – go through YouTube video comments and highlight their ridiculousness – it’s Buxton’s cheeky demeanour and weird little voices that make it work. By his own admission, Buxton gets easily distracted by the internet, spending hours trawling YouTube for these moments of surreal brilliance. Clearly this is time well spent as he unearths pure gold, including a strange discussion on a video by the band Grizzly Bear involving a homophobic bigot and “a punctuation detective”.

Considering the chaotic nature of the show as a whole, it still appears to be a pretty slick operation. Buxton utilises the presentation format perfectly and blends together clip shows, videos and images as well as simple childish visual gags based on folders that he supposedly doesn’t want the audience to see. Gorilla’s Group Therapy may be a captive audience for Buxton – MC Michael Legge quite rightly points out the room is essentially “6 Music in crowd form” – but the raucous laughter that accompanies Kernel Panic is testament to the inherent sense of fun generated by Buxton’s wonderfully silly comedy collage.