Faux Latino Show Pony

Jacob Edwards has a character. Sure, it's a character with several different names, different mannerisms, different... the names are really very different. Were this character a scorcher, that might be no bad thing. But, where character sketches usually have the get-out-of-jail-free card that no dud will be around for more than a few minutes, here there's no escape. It's very much a case of leaving the audience wanting less.

That character is essentially the bad comedian – whether personally troubled, self-unaware, sleazy or just plain thick, it's the unfortunate common centre to all Edwards's anti-comedic creations. What his point appears to be is that crappy comics come in many flavours – that if comedy is a world of infinite possibilities, then so must be the void left in its absence.

It's a nice idea, and the commitment to it is praiseworthy. "Roger Showbusiness" really does have a certain tragedy to him when played this convincingly; Remée Martin is genuinely repulsive. There's enough in evidence here to leave no doubt as to Edwards's quality as a comic actor. But, really, it's the same sort of thing on repeat. The writing isn't funny enough to create straight-up laughs, or awkward enough to squeeze giggles out of the tension. And the lack of variety means that, once this dynamic is set, it's here to stay. Edwards has flogged this pony to within an inch of its life. He needs to stop, look up, and find a new victim.