Tom Goodliffe: All in Good Time

Of the many examples where a concept has strangled a show this year, Tom Goodliffe's is one of the most obvious. It’s such a pity, as his debut hour last year produced some gentle and winning comedy.  All in Good Time is the 31 year-old’s attempt to get to grips with his tendency to procrastinate. He explains that this habit was passed down to him by his father, but it feels like his dad is more an eccentric than a delayer of deeds.

Moreover, Goodliffe's “dadlike” sense of humour, full of cute puns and silly wordplay, appears to be the legacy passed on here. Having established this tenuous familial link to his affliction, Goodliffe proceeds to pontificate on the nature of time, recounting the mark that the Romans left on the calendar and informing us of the quirky diary dates that some countries have – for example, “little pig moon” and “big pig moon” in the East Indies (from which Goodliffe extracts a weak duologue).

At various junctures, the constantly distracted comedian promises to get back to talking about his procrastination and how he is dealing with it. The narrative gag becomes obvious, but there is no "aha!" moment because of the realisation that this conceit is the reason behind the hour's erratic flow. The often corny flourishes that punctuate routines become less loveable in this context: they begin to feel like lazy tie-ups for unfinished material. The show comes in at a running time of 40 minutes, all in good time but for the wrong reasons.