Jake Lambert @ Pleasance Courtyard

As a comedian, Jake Lambert seems the equivalent of a good times politician. He's Tony Blair circa 1994. He grins, has a Britpop soundtrack and avoids saying anything about anything that matters. In Little Lost Lad it's like he's been advised to get through his first hour by throwing his best stuff together and not disgrace himself. He doesn't disgrace himself, he's actually pretty good: it's just a little frustrating that at the end of this hour it feels like we've only really scratched the surface and didn't get to know Lambert at all.

And it'd be nice to get to know him. The catalogue model haircut he sports, that we initially think is there as a signal to any producers who might be in, he actually cuts himself due to his dislike of small talk (which makes the barbers a real hazard). There's a nice moment between father and son at his grandpa's funeral, which says a lot about male repression down the generations. His exceptional memory – from the condition hyperthymesia – also offers him plenty of stuff to work with, even if his memories are entirely culinary based. But it seems he leaves it here as a party trick. It's not that he should mine these areas only for the purpose of having a deeper show, it's just that it feels there is a quirky personality ideal for comedy underneath that isn't being fully let out. 

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Jake Lambert: Little Lost Lad, Pleasance Courtyard (This), 1-26 Aug (not 13), 6pm, £6-10

Scroll on to read more of The Skinny's 2018 Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews; click here for a round-up of all the best reviews from this year's comedy and theatre programmes