Brennan Reece has, like most comics, had a tough time of things recently. He’s had relationship issues, suffered secret anxieties about his appearance, and wants to share what he’s been through. Neatly turned out all in white, Reece invites the audience to scribble answers to a few personal questions on cards stuck to a board behind him. Reece works through these cards (plus some he’d prepared earlier) to create an open-therapy session. It’s largely one-way traffic; although the results were revealing of the audience, not much time needed to be spent on their lavatorial mishaps.

Reece has an engaging, open delivery style that relies rather heavily on trying to mix things up with strangers. There’s a rather retro reliance of the usual Fringe obsessions with anuses, incest and paedophiles, a mean streak that doesn’t entirely gel with Reece’s often friendly, self-deprecating persona. 

^{Pictures: Duncan Elliot (above) Ben Wulf (top)}

There’s a contradiction in the show; when Reece seems genuine in his appreciation for an audience, his final summing up of each contribution feels rather dismissive. Yet he can sometimes really hit the heights; describing a sexual act, he uses a comparison to ‘a waiter looking away from a card machine’. That’s a smart observation, and proves Reece is capable of more than some of the low blows delivered here.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 29 August, 8.20pm.