Review by Steve Bennett

Show and tell is a tradition of American education, and it’s something Russian-born New Yorker Eugene Mirman never seems to have left behind.

This quirky stand-up presents not only himself, but also a parade of books, video clips and recorded phone conversations, to which he provides a witty, sardonic commentary.

At first, you’re sceptical of the idea, as he introduces a video tracing the history of Scotland through its whisky, with an abysmally bad voiceover describing the country as being ‘tangible, but dreamy’. It is bizarre and funny; but it begs the question of what Mirman has actually contributed to making it so.

But then the objects of his derision become much more personal, and all the better for it. When he has a run-in with his credit card company he is filled with such righteous indignation that he releases in a deliciously-worded letter listing in perfect detail all the evils of which he thinks they are capable. And, of course, he’s brought it with him tonight.

The most sublime of these encounters is the taped conversation he has with an ultra-Christian telecoms company – and yes, there is such a thing - trying to convince him to switch his phone contract because the giant networks offend God. The very idea is scarily weird, but he mocks it perfectly.

The Bible presented as a teen magazine, with alarming hints of racism, is similarly fodder  for his sarcasm – it’s an easy target, but an obscure one, meaning Mirman can make it his own.

Not everything quite works, notably some vouchers he hands out to the audience that can be redeemed for bizarre promise. And when he gives out sex tips on video, it doesn’t work as he can’t alter his pace to match the audience response. It’s unclear why he didn’t just read them from the stage.

But Mirman is, on the whole, a distinctive comic with a enjoyably stupid, outsider stance that mostly hits the spot.

Review date: 1 Jan 2005
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett