Nick Mohammed is Mr Swallow

Despite flirting with the meat-grinder of BBC3 comedy for the past year, Nick Mohammed has managed to find time to put together a Fringe show. This year he returns to his character Mr Swallow, a screeching self-help guru caught somewhere between Joe Pasquale and Little Britain. Such is Mohammed's ability that some audience members appear to take the character purely on face value – including the gent Mohammed commands to rush off and buy him a pint before the show starts.

Camp, cutesy and decidedly wretched, Swallow flits from Powerpoint presentation to violin as he ostensibly instructs the audience in techniques to improve their memory, tossing out a somewhat effective array of one-liners, sight gags and one stand-out set piece involving Vanessa Mae in the process.

That said, the best character performances require meticulous forethought in order to maintain that credible illusion of hilarious spontaneity. Mohammed is still clearly warming to the material, leaving the joins in Mr Swallow's performance quite visible, with the occasional incongruous segue soliciting more raised eyebrows than belly-laughs. Much of the absurdism Mohammed crams into his 45 minutes onstage is good for a smirk, but very little is developed to the point where it's memorable. If anything, such is his charm you'll find yourself rooting for Swallow – a bit of extra planning and a few minor rewrites could easily transform the show.

There's no denying Mohammed's talent and stagecraft. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of the eponymous Mr Swallow. For the moment.