John Robins: Where Is My Mind?

”Seen on BBC Three” is not usually a badge of honour for anyone, and John Robins deserves better than being lumped in with bunch generic lad comedians and forced to perform in an attic which draws its ventilation direct from the heart of the sun.

Where Is My Mind? is built around Robins’s reflections on his teenage quest for masculinity and coolness, via the Pixies and a dreamlike weekend at Reading Festival. He contrasts the memories of his awkward youth with the sudden reality of being old and still not very cool.

Robins has a natural ability to make his own life hilarious, and his intelligence and quick thinking on the spot shine through when he's confronted with distractions or a bad audience reaction. This is typified by a joke so elaborate that only two people get it – he stops the show and smugly explains the punchline. His forays into lad humour, too, are done with an air of knowing incredulity that the jokes might ever be funny taken at face value.

At its heart the show builds on observation and identification with Robins’s own experiences, so when he lists the bands he was happy to miss at Reading, a keen interest in the early 2000s indie scene comes in handy to get the joke. Just shouting "Mogwai" should get a cheer in Edinburgh, but when Robins talks about his favourite band there is stony silence, which makes his point for him. It's awkward indie comedy for indie people.