Josh Pugh @ Monkey Barrel

Josh Pugh is a hugely charming comic, and this is a really enjoyable show, crammed with great jokes. His fond take on British masculinity is a big hit with the crowd, but he also takes risks, moving the material into more personal territory, and leaning into darker aspects of his life.

The opening material on Brits abroad is very strong and he plays deftly throughout with bits that teasingly promise straight-up chauvinism and then undercuts them (the posturing about telling his wife straight about a stag do, for example, is quickly shown to be hot air). He admits, though, that rather than any actual machismo, it’s his natural incompetence that causes the most problems for his wife.

Pugh’s likeable persona promises sunny, straightforward comedy (which the show’s title gestures to) but he’s also increasingly willing to probe more tender spots. After a difficult journey with IVF, the advent of his new baby prompts him to take stock of his life; scrutinising the models for fatherhood available to him and assessing his own faults. These too are mined for comedy, and there’s a great story about his father’s failure to talk about emotions which allows him to mock his own fraught pursuit of honesty.

For all the dogged attempts at holding himself to account, though, there’s an abiding sweetness that can’t be dislodged, and the affectionate response he inspires is clear.

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Josh Pugh: Sausage, Egg, Josh Pugh, Chips and Beans, Monkey Barrel Comedy (Monkey Barell 4), until Aug 28, 2:10pm, £8-10