Stewart Francis: Pun Gent

In all likelihood, Pun Gent will tear you in two directions. If puns are not your preferred brand of humour, both the wit and sheer volume of Stewart Francis' almost scientifically-timed setup-punchline delivery will break down your reservations. Equally, the epic number of double entendres and paronomasias means, almost inevitably, that some will be underwhelming (as opposed to groan-inducing, a weird saving grace for puns). Still, you won't have a chance to dwell on it, as 20 seconds later, Francis will have moved on.

Pun Gent is divisive in other ways. Several jokes rely on rape as a punchline. If they were intended to be daring, they instead come across as mean and lacking self-awareness, particularly in a city supposedly at the forefront of modern comedy. How much this sours your experience of the show will depend on the individual.

Taken in isolation however, Francis has plenty of winning material. He has enough local knowledge and Scottish family history to work an Edinburgh crowd more effectively than most – even, to my lasting astonishment, leading the audience in a chorus of "Ye Cannae Shove Your Granny Off the Bus". But again, he retreats into more old-fashioned comedy, with mixed results: a running gag about Sean Connery's immutable accent starts funny, but grows tedious and, given the setting, somewhat patronising.

Pun Gent is a show with many laughs in it, but they are fragmented by the distracting impression that Francis is bouncing between the comedy he has truly worked on, and the comedy he can get away with.