Mark Watson: The Information

The fact information is freely available is hardly a fresh revelation, and Mark Watson is in a better position than most to discuss it. After all, he's been the victim of bank fraud, Twitter hate and, most upsettingly, refused a mortgage after his lender Googled him and discovered he was a comic. 

This is the throughline as Watson returns to straight stand up, and it's a bloody good job he did. You can often forget, what with TV appearances on uninspiring panel shows such as Mock The Week (he himself describes it as a "non-speaking role") just how strong Watson is. Grinning through anecdotes as audience members text throughout the show (his contact details projected on a massive screen throughout) this isn't mum-pleasing mainstream but an entertaining, unpredictable torrent wrapped up in loveable geeky enthusiasm. His run-ins with the internet, lying to taxi drivers and the word MILF (maybe a bit mum-pleasing, then) are spiked with just enough barbs to give him an edge many don't give him credit for. 

As a running theme, it feels a little structurally contrived as the strands come together as Watson turns his guns on Paul Goddard, the man who refused his mortgage. Watson genially explains he'd like to "destroy this man's life" using the internet, turning his own weapon against him. It's a fairly inspired lesson in how to turn a personal squabble into a brilliantly OTT e-crusade, while demonstrating Watson's own secret weapon: he's really not as safe as you think he is.