Lloyd Langford: The Cold Hard Facts of Life

One pressing challenge for straight-forward observational comics when major news events filter into the venue is the increased audience expectation of sharp, instant responses as stories unfold. Lloyd Langford takes reports of tonight's heightened unrest in English cities and makes them serve a wider purpose, with an impressive opening interplay of observations relating his everyday concerns to the bewildering news events of 2011 so far. His receptivity earns the trust of the room, as Langford goes on the deliver a steady, consistent set with a slightly detached assurance.

Successive yarns spin around Tesco bags, knives and mice, the latter tale in particular providing an excellent context for Langford's interactive skills. Effective ways of catching mice established, the performance jostles nicely into a parting shot on the sexual possibilities of winged birds. Langford is clearly testing his limits with this final piece, and I'd be interested to see him take this direction further in future shows.

Good stuff then, but risk is the way forward for Langford.