Claudia O’Doherty: The Telescope

This frenetic Aussie comedian’s borderline hysterical show begins with O’Doherty telling all about her indoctrination into a cult-like comedy school called The Nuthouse, where she was brainwashed into becoming a stand-up. Next, we’re told she has had enough and is abandoning comedy for serious, confrontational theatre beginning tonight with The Telescope, a multimedia play about a time-travel romance between a Victorian housemaid and a Dirty Harry-alike American cop that also involves the murder of a medieval monk. Things get even more confused when the technology O’Doherty’s using goes haywire and the comedian-cum-actress is forced to perform out of synch with various audio and visual effects and eventually abandon the play altogether and fall back on her comedy improv training.

What comes across as a complete bl**dy mess is, of course, carefully orchestrated chaos. In the hands of a less energetic and gleefully oddball performer the whole thing could easily have spun badly out of control. But O’Doherty whizzes through her material dragging the audience along with her on this balmy and bewildering trip.

Underbelly Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, until 26 Aug (not 13), 7.45pm, £9 (£8).