Just before the show starts, Van Vuuren pops his head around the black curtain at the side of the stage, nodding to someone at the back as the doors close.

Despite his efforts to avoid
being interrupted, the beginning of Van Vuuren's routine is disturbed by dozens of latecomers, all of whom receive a righteous dose of vitriol. An enormous schoolboy in the front row is instantly christened "Gargantua" and becomes the butt of many gentle jibes throughout the set,

Once Van Vuuren hits his stride, he fizzes with (possibly literally) crazy energy. He's a very busy actor in physical theatre productions (and more – he was also involved in Festival hit The Three Little Pigs, , and the aspects of his performance that cross over between platforms ensure that his stand-up comedy is very different to most of his peers.

Sometimes, the bizarre facial expressions and contortions are their own punchline.

One of the themes in his set concerns, as he says, "things that freak me out." It's a varied collection of phenomena: cats, humping whales (no typo), Catholics and women are responsible for just some of his worries.

The writing is fairly strong throughout – Van Vuuren has that entertaining way of being able to link punchlines in completely
different contexts than some more experienced comics – but it's the physical accompaniment that makes them memorable.

All of the activity is given a thought-provoking counterweight when Van Vuuren begins to share about his adopted child. Becoming a dad, he says, made him an "empathy conductor".

His family's new addition also gives Van Vuuren an outlet to attack bigotry in people who seem unaware that they exhibit it.

"People refer to her as 'a child of colour'," he says. "Apparently my wife and I are translucent."

Van Vuuren introduces some Shakespeare into his act, and the hilarious monologue is so good it deserves to be expanded as the basis for a separate production.