Evaldas Karosas @ Monkey Barrel Comedy

As a finalist in the BBC’s New Comedy Awards and recent tour support for Kevin Bridges, Evaldas Karosas is certainly having a moment. And it’s easy to see why: Karosas has an easy, natural charm, a clear knack for joke writing, and a point of view that it’s easy to see taking him far. After a few years of shared bills, A Very Capable Man is Karosas’ debut solo hour. While plenty of the festival’s buzziest newcomers are arriving with ambitious swings that edge into the world of theatre, Karosas’ offering is refreshingly classical: here’s an hour of someone telling funny jokes. 

And while the hour has all the requisite call-backs and intricacies, this is not an hour with the requisite 40-minute sad bit, or any great theatrical flourish. His final, very funny routine is one about autofellatio, delivered with an apology to his agent. One gets an almost old-fashioned feeling about what Karosas is here to do: deliver some gags, and leave an audience laughing. That’s not to say that there’s no sophistication to the writing, but Karosas’ interests are familiar ones, approached with a keen eye and a discernment that means almost nothing lands without a laugh. He’s particularly strong on masculinity, dating and on the seam of cultural difference between his Lithuanian village upbringing and his recent life as a performer living in urban Britain. 

In a series of memorable routines touching on gender roles, "hierarchies of immigrants”, and rural perspectives on the demands of modernity, he finds a real stride and dips into a sly cultural satire. Those are welcome evidence that Karosas is not only funny – that’s not in doubt – but a writer of some promise. This Fringe, he’ll be picking up plenty of fans ready for whatever’s next.

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Evaldas Karosas: A Very Capable Man, Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cab Vol 2), until 30 Aug, 7.10pm, £10.50-£13.50