Ennio Marchetto: The Living Paper Cartoon

Imagine the papercuts you’d suffer over 25 years of this stuff. That’s how long it’s been since Marchetto's Edinburgh debut established him as the leading quick-change, celebrity-aping mime artist currently working in the medium of dead trees.

The Italian’s 2D paper tunics and hats are simple at first sight but conceal an abundance of surprises. Tab A goes into slot B, cue music and ta-da: he transforms from one pop-culture icon into another, then another. Almost no star caricatured is less than Madame Tussaud’s-level famous, creating just the sort of crowd-pleasing novelty Cowell and Walliams might judge of a Saturday night.

Even if that’s got your snob sense tingling, you’ll surely appreciate the craftsmanship required to make paper bounce like Marilyn’s breasts or swing like Beyonce’s hips, not to mention the planning that’s gone into figuring out whose guitar might be origamied into whose hairdo. Only once does a transformation slip, when Jesus appears to be giving birth to Shirley Bassey’s feather boa.

It’s mightily impressive, albeit sometimes so lowbrow it’s practically moustached. Nobody needs another Mona Lisa breaking decorum, and by the time Adele waddles around scoffing cake, some will be wishing they could smack the buzzer, flash up the big “X” and be done with it.

But wait, is that a wisp of actual satire? A dig at Barlow’s tax affairs? Miley’s decline told in three short acts? Marchetto’s clearly laboured to test the limits of his shtick, and when an opera diva rendered in profile keeps trying to revert to his default face-on stance, it hints at self-awareness. Look at this and try to deny that Italy’s got talent.