Daniel Rigby: Afterbirth

Afterbirth is the story of Daniel Rigby’s conversion (“like a shit loft”) to Christianity at the age of 19 – and his subsequent fallout with religions and superstitions of every description. After a shaky start, in which Rigby clearly struggles to establish a rapport with his audience and to find his way through his material, he explores the Bible's oddities and contradictions with increasing confidence and flair.

The transition between different sections of his act can be abrupt – as when he veers from a description of the ghost he encountered in a shower to his introduction to the Alpha course, which he describes as “Christianity with an account at Saatchi and Saatchi”. But Rigby’s impression of a 500-year-old Noah being told that he must father a child is worth the entrance fee alone, as is his scarily good Ann Widdecombe impersonation.

The small but appreciative audience warm to him as the show goes on, prepared to indulge his increasingly audacious brand of physical comedy. Whether angels disguising themselves as humans would in fact develop an accent that is a cross between a Jamaican and someone from Leamington Spa is a moot point, but Rigby carries it off.

This is an unpolished act, with moments of real hilarity. Finally, Rigby’s insistence that the good in the world comes not from a higher being but our own humanity creates a surprisingly heartfelt and uplifting end to an unpredictable show.