Hugh Hughes: 360

Hugh Hughes is a happy man. He maintains a kind of manic, childish enthusiasm throughout this show - his first straight stand-up outing after a string of well-received storytelling performances - whether he's introducing one bemused audience member to another as they take their seats, or bidding a cheerful farewell to a punter with the temerity to leave. His relentless refusal to be cynical or gloomy gives him the air of a slightly overbearing children's TV presenter, and the non-stop positivity can occasionally be wearing.

But all this bounciness isn't incidental. The importance of maintaining a sense of fun is actually his show's subject matter, and Hughes' jokes are all morality tales with the same message: don't get too caught up in being a serious grown up; remember to remain, on some level, a child. 360 is the story of how he went back to Anglesey as a young man, after finding himself jaded and disillusioned in London. To cheer himself up, he decided to climb Snowdon with his old friend Gareth, but found himself increasingly annoyed by the endlessly repeated jokes which used to form the glue in their friendship.

In a few witty vignettes, Hughes gives an account of this friendship, from childhood to the mountaintop crisis. The story is both expertly structured and wittily delivered, although this artistry is sometimes hidden behind Hughes' madcap, grinning, pantomime-esque onstage persona. The whimsy occasionally grates, and the show offers smiles rather than belly-laughs, but Hughes' childish enthusiasm and his genuine storyteller's skill ultimately prove a winning combination.