Douglas Walker @ Underbelly George Square

Not content with simply telling jokes, Douglas Walker has brought an hour of comedy to the Fringe full of slow-burners and exceptional wordplay. Zuschauer is made up of sketches whose characters are as self-assured as they are eloquent, and Walker plays them all with complete conviction, stepping in and out to comment on his own work and make sure that we’re doing our part to the best of our ability.

Walker builds tension at his own pace. Audience interaction is key to the set, and one sketch in particular sees his co-star take every one of the punchlines with a series of fantastic puns. Changing gear, we see a deadpan performance from a radio DJ turn into a bizarre tale of drug-fuelled Scottish music hall, and another series of scenes leaves us searching for a punchline then laughing at ourselves for doing so. Playing with both the form and his audience, Walker has a very clever show here, and one which deserves as large an audience as he can get.

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Douglas Walker: Zuschauer, Underbelly, George Square (Wee Coo), until 27 Aug (not 16), 10.40pm, £8-10