Joz Norris @ Pleasance Dome

Joz Norris is no longer a comedian (and for some, never was). Instead, he’s reinventing himself as a rude, rowdy magician who loathes his audience. Darting from stage left to stage right and telling the room to go fuck themselves, there’s a shared DNA between the energy of Norris and the late Rik Mayall. If the pace and character work of the opening ten minutes had been maintained, Blink would make for an unstoppable hour.

Instead, the show complicates itself, becoming bogged down by incoherent plot strands about a thought machine and time travel (akin to a very low rent version of The Prestige). There’s some fun gags made out of the brain-reading machine (it’s simply a turned-off microphone), particularly one audience member’s obsession with milk, though the rest are a little predictable. There’s also some actual magic, poorly executed on purpose with, in one case, horrific consequences which envelope you in a living nightmare. If fear and laughter are two sides of the same coin, the room is split in its reaction.

From here on in, Blink spirals into a puerile lucid dream and at its height, a parent with their six-year old leaves, hastily running across the front of the room, upstaging Norris and igniting hysterics from act and audience alike. Next comes an unearned breakdown, ripped of any pathos particularly after Norris’ recent upstaging.

That’s not to say the hour isn’t without merit, and the faux reinvention is a smart move to make Norris stand out in a year crammed with shows from both new and returning comics. However, Blink feels like it’s all high-concept but loses interest with itself, both focusing too much on trying to make the plot work, and not enough to uphold the surreal shtick Norris is best known for.

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Joz Norris: Blink, Pleasance Dome (Jack Dome), until 28 Aug, 8.20pm, £8.50-12