Jen Kirkman @ Manchester Pub/Zoo, 24 Jul

“Do you guys have sexism here? You do? Oh, I didn’t know. I thought maybe you solved it or something. We still have it in America, too.” Jen Kirkman’s debut Manchester performance is a joyous, uproarious triumph: a deeply accomplished comic performance built around a compelling and ideas-rich discourse.

Tonight, after a week-long London theatre run of her one-woman show I Know What I’m Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself, she reverts to her stand-up set for an audience that might not know her work as well, but Manchester folds from the off. (Credit for her excellent pre-show playlist that concludes with an irony-bending one-two of Bikini Kill's Rebel Girl and Bowie's Queen Bitch.) And while both formats share a relatable 'I’m (still) a clueless idiot' theme, with each one she takes potentially standard-issue methodology and fashions it into something courageous, questioning and true. 

Those familiar with Kirkman's excellent I Seem Fun podcast, and her ongoing Twitter combat with the 'Bernie Bros' (a frighteningly fanatical group of Sanders acolytes who can't handle reasoned support for a female candidate) and the mindless wimpering of the #notallmen brigade, will already be signed up to the LA comic's clear-eyed, unflinching worldview. But tonight, over the course of a barrelling 75-minute set, she fleshes out her act as she prods for solutions and understanding. And while the former provides shape and structure, it's the latter that adds a (critical) level of humanism. 

Throughout, Kirkman diverts into intruiging side roads but her mind keeps pace with her tongue, and every single time she loops back to the narrative thrust once she's done. How she maintains the back and forth is breathtaking; a technical marvel. The effect is dizzying, and the laughs keep coming: Kirkman exits to a sustained ovation and deservedly so. As her Stateside profile continues to increase, the UK finally shows signs of waking up to her unique talents. And, on this evidence, not a moment too soon.