Max Fulham's Monkey Business @ Gilded Balloon Teviot

A good five minutes before the show officially starts, Max Fulham is already frantically working the room. There are young hands to shake, fluffy panda toys to be introduced to, and older parents and guardians to be cheerfully greeted. One thing is clear – Max Fulham means business.

This clever and chaotically brilliant show looks at the world of work through the eyes of Fulham’s audience – pre-teen kids for whom his extraordinary ventriloquism must be the next best thing to magic. The key to the show's success is Fulham's focus on the kids, avoiding the temptation to stray into double entendres aimed at the grown-ups. It turns out there is more than enough absurd humour in the everyday rat race of the 9-5 without straying into vulgarity.

Crucially, despite some clever misdirection and the odd break of the fourth wall, Fulham's show has a warmth running through it that never shifts into meanness. He's laughing with his young accomplices, never at them, and the engaging characters he has created to bring the show to life, from Gordon the Monkey to, er, a waste paper bin, take on a life of their own.

There is particular applause for a running gag around ties that is just as funny the second time around. With never ending reserves of energy and enthusiasm, Fulham somehow manages to cajole the kids into a rousing shout of "Post it on LinkedIn!" whenever he completes a successful part of the act. It's the reaction of the kids in the audience that lets you know this is no part-time gig. Max Fulham’s knockabout style is just the thing to introduce the workforce of tomorrow to the Fringe.

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Max Fulham's Monkey Business, Gilded Balloon Teviot (Dining Room), until 16 Aug, 11.50am, £15.50/£14.50