Joel Dommett @ The Lowry, 2 Mar

Part of a new wave of improbably nice comedians, Joel Dommett takes to the stage with a mix of mawkish charm and naughty school-child that’s all encapsulated in a beaming smile that you can’t help but mimic. A natural entertainer, Dommett’s skill lies in making everyone feel like his best friend, even when getting nothing back from a stoic crowd. He has boundless energy and excels at physical comedy, though he has a tendency to let his jokes run on past the point of funny, only to keep going to find the laugh again – an art Family Guy perfected in the early 2000s, but unfortunately ran into the ground thereafter.

Dommett's jokes about his flatmate having sex and generally being the Spanish word for beach are good as far the set up goes but he does sometimes suffer for over excitedly running over and missing the beat of his punchlines. This is in evidence a few times throughout the show and, although not detracting from the great build-up and masterful friendly tone of his storytelling, it does hinder him when going for big applause breaks when a gag fails to land due to timing and pop.

His stories are so scatterbrained and wildly entertaining its tough to decipher a point or a theme to it all, other than he was quite an embarrassing child/young adult. But in two standout finales he manages to bring the whole show to a gratifying and hilarious crescendo that pulls in strands from all his earlier anecdotes. A tighter structure might see this show score higher, but it would be to the detriment of Dommett’s style and general levels of manic energy, which is what gives much of his performance its charm. That, and his Cheshire Cat grin.