Kieran Boyd: Egg

Kieran Boyd is a familiar name in comedy, so it's a surprise when he announces that this is his debut hour. Years of shorter sets, showcases and double bills—alongside his stint with popular sketch group WitTank—have given him a natural on-stage charm and easy audience engagement. Immediately confident and endearing, it stands him in good stead for a first full-length outing.

The show mostly comprises observational material of a familiar kind. There are pedestrian and predictable appearances of subjects from hangovers to the social etiquette of holding doors open for people, pulling "sickie" from work, and the porn-based dangers of freelancing from home. A lengthy routine about different accents and what they tell us about the innate characters of different cultures—from cheerful Geordies to killjoy Germans—displays an uncomfortable overreliance on racial and regional stereotypes. Otherwise it's an engaging and well-executed, if mostly unoriginal, hour of by-the-book standup.

Boyd is on better ground when flashes of his own personality come through. Originally from Warrington, his once-broad accent has been schooled into clipped middle-class diction. He's well aware of the privilege he presents and the contradictions it raises, probing his family background to comic effect. He's a fan of both heavy metal and rustic Italian cuisine, with standout routine managing to combine both in a series of wryly funny anecdotes. If he can continue to find more of his own voice, and avoid the lazier genre tropes, his otherwise strong comedy persona shows promise.