Johnny Vegas

Pottery is the new comedy. When J. Vegas unveils his potters wheel and gives the audience a master class in the creation of "mugs and jugs" you realise that the boundary has been crossed and Vegas is boldly going where no stand-up has gone before. The Pottery though is just a neat metaphor for his own downtrodden existence - stunningly unfashionable and more than one step away from the mainstream. It is Vegas's plea for acceptance in a contemporary world that forms the basis of some very trenchant comedy.

When not busy at the wheel he provides a quick autobiography of his life and time to date; once a big star at Butlins Holiday Camp Vegas fell out of favour with the rise of "alternative comedy" and he was left languishing with only some hoary old show biz anecdotes to keep him going. But now Johnny is back, calling for the reintroduction of "sing alongs and bingo" and good old fashioned fun - "I'm not a comedian I'm an entertainer" he rasps more than once.

This show could easily and conveniently be filed under "Character Comedy" but the beauty and originality of the work here means that Johnny Vegas is not so much a fictional character but, more an alter-ego of his creator. Painfully honest and more than a bit poignant this is the comic find of the year. Viva Johnny Vegas.