Jazz Emu @ Pleasance Dome

Jazz Emu’s arrogance, meandering European accent and pompous understanding of the world could easily misfire if any of the ingredients were overpowering, but as demonstrated tonight, it's a phenomenally measured, expertly calculated outing of character comedy. Bursting onto the stage in a tight purple jumpsuit, Jazz Emu snatches up a guitar, plants himself behind a keyboard and sets the show to ‘on’. Crooning over the track, the man declares his mission for the night – to leave his audience well and truly ‘gruntled’.

The conviction is tenacious, without which the facade would cascade and the jokes would collapse. Harking back to the trailblazing frontmen of the 80s, Emu prowls, gyrates and thrusts across the stage. The powerful, disarming voice of Emu echoes how genuinely impressive the songwriting is; these aren’t the trifling gags of a comedian squeezing in a musical number – this is a songwriter with a flair for comedy.

You’d think within the first minutes of the show, you'd have seen enough to establish Emu as an entertainer. The outfits and the music capture your attention, but what is most impressive about Emu is that the jokes are constantly landing and landing loud. The persona could easily elevate a mediocre script, but the gags come rapidly, one after another, producing a dense hour of comedy. 

As Emu battles with his inability to raise us all into a higher state of being, the mask and ego never falter. The more surreal moments of the show remarkably never alienate the audience, be it Wayne Rooney superimposed on the moon or a brief appearance from an alien dabbling with stand up. All through the pomp, this hyperbolically egotistical character has the audience permanently rooting for him.

Henderson’s prowess on stage would be a smash hit without the material to back it up, but fortunately we have a masterful entertainer with gags by the boatful.

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Jazz Emu: The Pleasure Is All Yours, Pleasance Dome (Queen Dome), until 24 Aug, 9.50pm, £15-£18