Sean Patton @ Pleasance Courtyard

Sean Patton manages to draw the room into the humid swamps of New Orleans and the small-town idiosyncrasies of the Deep South. His storytelling skills are second-to-none and the characters and events he depicts incredibly real. The Spring Break anecdote is one you won’t forget any time soon. The section about Hurricane Katrina is particularly touching and the heart of the show is also revealed through his honest discussion of living with OCD, his parents’ loving relationship and his unique reaction to farts. 

But it can be quite bitty too, with some punchlines too prickly to land. Letting an audience think you’ll let a woman get date-raped because she spurned you isn’t received as well as anticipated; and quite rightly. The relentless use of the word ‘bitch’ doesn’t help either. This lack of consistency in tone can be difficult to relax into, and you never know how far you are from the next instance of what comes across as lazy misogyny.

Although the show’s unpredictability could be an asset, Number One is a real mish-mash of an hour, swinging uncomfortably from heartfelt to crass in a second.

This review is based on an opening night preview.