Rob Newman still twinkles with the smart but boyish mischief which helped make his name alongside David Baddiel. It's nevertheless striking the extent to which he now embraces a spiky, academic persona not a million miles from the childish lecturer he portrayed in their History Today sketches almost three decades ago. Checking his running time on a fob watch and with an erudite, professorial delivery, the 57-year-old is an intellectual dueller, fantasising crossing swords with Michael Sandel at the American philosopher's Reith Lecture on morality, taking issue with Einstein, and airily dismissing Brian Cox's theories on matters beyond established physics as the burblings of a fey northern dilettante.

In best postmodern style, Newman elucidates philosophy, religion and evolutionary biology through pop culture, tracing the development of human language from song in the garbled London tones of Clash guitarist Mick Jones. In truth, this particular routine is a little woolly and ideas-dense, despite being peppered with some good gags. But when Newman truly finds the right balance of high and low-brow, it's exquisite. His critique of James Bond through Nietzsche's conception of the Übermensch is, by turns, persuasive, hilarious and even thrilling, as his devil-may-care 007 careers and crashes through an ungrateful London.

This Philosophy Show is occasionally too sweeping in its preoccupations; for example, his issue with fellow comic Eddie Izzard is unsatisfyingly passed over too quickly. But Newman's curiosity, his unapologetic breadth of learning (brought to life by goofy impressions of everything from sarcastic octopi to Morrissey) and unwillingness to accept perceived wisdom is nevertheless infectiously engaging.

Craving silence, safer roads and obedience to the rule of law, he's self-consciously Pooterish and leaning into it. But even his daftest arguments have an identifiable moral underpinning. Even so, some of the routines are just straightforwardly, uproariously brilliant. A tale about how far David Suchet will go to remain in character as Poirot off-screen brought the house down with its perfect denouement.

Rob Newman's Philosophy Show tours until Sunday 17 April; review from The Stand, Glasgow, Wednesday 24 November.