Carey Marx

A veteran Pontin’s bluecoat recounting tales of his 19-year-old magician-self, Carey Marx’ fresh and well-judged set focuses on debunking the myths of phony spoon-bending, séance-leading practitioners. Hitting a surprising tone from the off-set, his ruminations are loosely based on a very believable encounter with a group of prankster Pontin’s pals. Alone in a disused outhouse, young Marx pulls a séance out the bag, his colleagues take him seriously and all sorts of coincidences unravel.

The good bit is that Marx is utterly on our side. He gets that it is weird for adults to pull coins from behind people’s ears and understands that spirits, ghosts and that all-forgiving spiritual scapegoat ‘energy’ just aren’t real. And most slyly, he manages to make his crowd feel like they are being told something that they didn’t already know. Underpinned with strong storytelling, impressive skills and an unprecedented crescendo that climaxes with Marx taking a pop at that ‘big fat all-over-the-place cunt in the sky’, this is supremely-crafted comedy.

The Stand II, 558 7272, until 29 Aug, 7.50pm, £8 (£7).