Jordan Brookes: The Making Of

In a cellar far across the Meadows, Jordan Brookes is manfully attempting to change the face of live comedy. And what a face he’s working with. Brookes’ face should get an award nomination of its own, even without the scary brain behind it, which should get one too.

This largely unsung talent made a minor splash with last year’s Adventures in Limited Space, but The Making Of is next-level ideamongery. Visually, think Robert 'Peep Show' Webb, but with Tony Law and Lee Evans fighting for control of his mind and body. That’s exactly it. Brookes actively fights for control along the way too, as he lets other personalities take over, then has to embark on elaborate procedures to remember his original one. It sounds daft, but masks darkness.

This is officially the story of his gap year, which was actually a wilderness year at his parents’ house after a breakdown which became progressively bleaker. So it’s really about the concept of losing yourself, but buried deep within radical physical comedy.

You half suspect that Brookes’ freakishly malleable face (“it’s chaos!”) is due to the maelstrom of ideas banging around behind it: first he’s graphically being born, then getting punters to represent his absent dad, then rewinding previous bits to reveal the subliminal messages he’d planted within.

It’s a breathtaking, hugely original hour, which hopefully won’t be ignored over in Marchmont. The only downside is that a) it makes every subsequent comedy show seem staid, and b), he’ll eventually have to follow this, too. Good luck with that.