Lewis Black is one of the original grumpy old men. His official biography describes him as 'the most exasperated man in America,’ and it would be hard to take issue with that.

For him, life is a ceaseless series of disappointments. Yet the inevitability of this state of affairs does nothing to limit his confusion, disgust and anger at it.

He starts off merely grumbling to himself, but quickly becomes so agitated at the stupidity around him that he's reduced to a stuttering, incandescent wreck, so overwhelmed that he struggles to find adequate words of disdain. The impotent fury drives him to madness and he can only bark out incredulity as if stricken by Tourette's.

He finds plenty of stupidity in his native land, of course, especially from the top. The decision of George Bush, his lieutantants and his cohorts providing the most bilious of reaction.

It’s the stuff of almost every liberal comic in the States from The Daily Show downwards. But there never seems any scarcity of material emerging from the dumb decisions of the dumb decision makers. In fact, as Black is forced to admit, his routine is often more than selective newsreading – giving us bald facts that are more ridiculous than any punchline could ever be.

Although his outlook is shared by other comics – even doing material on what’s considered the de facto ‘hack’ subject of American stand-up, airline security – Lewis makes it his own. That’s mainly due to his sincerely, intellect and his inexhaustible capacity to be both surprised and outraged at a world going to pot.

For him, spreading the message is as important as the comedy. There’s some trade-off in laughs, but it means his is a substantial, enlightening and sharply satirical set, disguising our depressing fate under a veil or sarcastic humour