Yacine Belhousse: Made in France

In this impressive English language debut, French comedian Yacine Belhousse shows that it's possible to mine significant comedy riches from your limitations. Absorbing our argot from the likes of Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey and action blockbusters, he maintains that while he struggles to convey emotions in English, he can successfully hold up a British bank – even if he still manages to apply a Gallic twist to the robbery.

The first instance of expressive absurdism in a show in thrall to it, the influence of Belhousse's English mentor Eddie Izzard can't be ignored. And he absolutely subscribes to Izzard's notion that humour is universal and not prescribed by national culture. Even so, he's much more than a translation tribute act, endearingly and amusingly highlighting his difficulties with conjugating verbs in several of his observations, while challenging our stereotypes about his country with less familiar counter-examples.

His exoticism and natural, effusive charm win him a certain degree of indulgence with the crowd – we're rather less taken with the idea of a fox being a magical animal than he is. And his closing routine, where an overpriced Monaco cheeseburger inspires a showdown with a dragon feels like surrealism for surrealism's sake. Nevertheless, it's indicative of Belhousse's confidence in flexing his comedic skills that he can even contemplate such an ambitious finale. You really admire the daring of his routines. And while he's keen to ingratiate, he never panders and seldom opts for the easy, culture-clash laugh, suggesting that truly this is an emerging comic sans frontières.