Rob Auton: The Water Show

Illuminated by the low hanging spotlights in the Banshee Labryinth Rob Auton appears a man searching in the abyss for big answers. The follow up to last year’s The Face Show, this time Auton is looking to get to the bottom of water’s mysteries. With a mix of spoken word and careful introspection he dives into his topic with all the wide-eyed enthusiasm of an infant asking his parents for answers. Though he never really finds them, he does at least throw up some interesting questions: for example, if cucumber is 96 per cent water, then surely we can just have a glass of the clear stuff as one of our five a day.

Frequently, Auton provides demos of the sort of wordplay that won him "joke of the Fringe" back in 2013. His views on the word "retired" are inspired. He is also demonstrates dexterity at physical comedy with one routine about a shark. If there is a problem with Auton’s show it’s that it is so bursting with ideas it frequently runs away from its author, like the river wild. A grateful host though, Auton guides us through these choppy waters with a sometime earnest and sometime light touch. He can be playful but also weighty. Though this is not as heartfelt as his show about the face, The Water Show is a refreshing change from mainstream comedy.