David O'Doherty, The Stand, 18 March

David O'Doherty sits on stage with an affable charm; a mane of hair spills over his face but a smart tie round his shirt collar polishes the effect, like a "dapper 70s tramp" according to his dad. The 1980s Casio and Yamaha mini keyboards round off the lo-fi look, and add to the suspicion that O'Doherty's outlook hasn't progressed past primary school. He sings with boyish glee about having very mild super powers, and accidentally texting the person the text was about, with the effect more cunning than cutting. Punctuating the punchlines with pre-programmed 80s beats adds to his wry observations on life, like a 30 year-old Charlie Brown with a Rocky soundtrack. "I'm gonna rock your world in quite a gentle way," he sings defiantly, "like a delicious cake, opposed to a bag of drugs." O'Doherty proves you don't need shock or controversy to be cool at comedy. [Emma Lennox]