Matt Winning: Mugabe and Me (3D)

There's something to be said for starting your show with a bang. Kicking off with what he claims is "the most expensive opening joke at the Fringe", Matt Winning does just that. He's open, instantly likeable and keyed in to the absurd from the start, offering up material that is funny, well-written and full of ridiculous turns. He makes a good first impression.

We're asked to suspend our disbelief as this young white guy introduces himself as the son of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. It's clearly absurd, but the fear that he will turn into his father is a familiar idea rooted here in unfamiliar ground.

Keen to travel the world and make his own mark, Winning embarks on an odyssey of international employment and experience, which unfortunately doesn't deliver on the energy of such a promising beginning. The quirkiness is still there, but the laughs thin out as Winning's more interesting ideas remain underdeveloped.

The blend of surrealism with more reality-rooted issues doesn't always work either, jarring awkwardly in places: a gag about Laser Quest leads to a dig about unaffordable mortgages, and there is a thoughtful but lengthy metaphor involving FIFA and a lightbulb joke. It's a shame, as Winning can clearly write—as his Rabbie Burns pastiche demonstrates nicely—but not with the consistency to deliver this effectively over a whole hour.