Adam Hess @ Heroes, The Hive

Setting up a storyline early on about the saddest day of his life on 28 October 2016, Adam Hess begins to tell the story before getting distracted by another joke that seemingly has just popped into his head.

This theme continues throughout the rest of the show, with Hess going off on tangents right, left and centre, failing to ever bring it all back to making sense. Much of the show is conducted with Hess jumping backwards and forwards from one story to another without any fluency or clear narrative. His delivery also appears nervous on stage, jittering, stumbling on his words and telling jokes at a lightning pace. For many, the distractions and rapid fire execution is part of Hess's appeal, but for others it borders on the incomprehensible – as it does for this reviewer today.

It means that tales of his personal failings or embarrassing incidents never elevate above the mildly amusing, his delivery of them is far too frantic for them to have any lasting impact – and only the intonation is memorable.

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Adam Hess: Cactus, Heroes at The Hive (Cave), until 27 Aug, 6pm, £6/PWYW