Billy Kirkwood: Comedy Fizzbomb

As far as names go, few standup shows hit the nail quite so precisely on the head as this one. Seemingly raised on a diet of sherbet and artificial colourings, Ayrshire’s Billy Kirkwood is living proof that ADHD can occur in adults. The set he produces is haphazard, effervescent and at times hilarious, with this daft little gremlin of a man spouting nonsense, nostalgia and ingeniously phrased scatological horrors.

The sheer, chaotic speed of Kirkwood’s delivery sees him cram more punchlines into 20 minutes than most comics manage in an hour, but quality control sometimes suffers as a result. When he hits his stride and successfully strings together a volley of the obscene and the absurd, the reaction is riotous. All too often, though, he corners himself into a bizarre ad-lib that baffles audience and performer alike, leaving him to squeal, mince and curse his way out of it. Meanwhile, what little direction the show has is diverted by a couple of prop-based segments that – as a self-conscious Kirkwood acknowledges – detract from its spontaneity and feel slightly lazy.

Comedy Fizzbomb is unpolished, undemanding and unstructured — but that's exactly why it's so much fun. After a night of such clownish misbehaviour, the fact that tonight the stage is left covered in boiled sweets, playing cards, tissues and saliva somehow makes perfect sense.