Alun Cochrane

Alun Cochrane has come to the Fringe this year with a different goal. He’s here to simply deliver a bucketful of jokes. And he does in fact walk on stage armed with a bucket full of jokes from which he’ll pluck out some one or two-liners for the audience to vote on whether they should stay in his act or get chucked in the bin. Seems that a heckle he received last Christmas imploring him to do more jokes has been taken to heart and some of that storytelling stuff might have to take a backseat for a bit.

But Cochrane being Cochrane (double denim and all), he can’t fully stop himself from setting up a life scenario which tugs a little at the heartstrings before making us pay for our weakness with a killer punchline. In the last while, both his wife and mum have been dealt some bad news, all of which has put life into context and brought him even closer to his young son. ‘What’s the point?’ he queries on a few occasions. When there are comics in the world like Alun Cochrane, there’s plenty of point.

The Stand III & IV, 558 7272, until 29 Aug, 9.15pm, £9 (£8).