^{Picture: Karla Gowlett}

For a man who awards most things in life a six out of ten, you wonder what he’ll make of this review’s star rating. Pierre Novellie is a man that never appears to fully enjoy himself, a poker-faced individual who declares most things in life as ‘fine’. But as it turns out, he can be provoked by irritation particularly by those who express more emotion than he does. His take on the experience of sitting next to a couple in the theatre who were a little too involved in the onstage action is a celebration of pedantry and indignation.

This is a clever, apparently effortless show of solid comedy. Despite that appearance of ease, it’s clear a lot of work has gone into this dense hour of material with so many disgruntled observations depicted with a lyrical choice of words. His difficult early-morning routine reveals the true purpose behind butter and jam as breakfast items. Elsewhere there’s an analysis of the kind of film he prefers which, in part, is indicated by the presence of a particular type of snack in a cinema’s concession stand.

Why Can’t I Just Enjoy Things? is structurally brilliant too; even if you remembered that he’d left a loose end dangling and can see that it’s about to be tied up, the call-back is still a sheer delight. And like all perfectly structured shows, a denouement expertly draws the previous hour together. A masterclass.

Monkey Barrel, until 28 Aug, 6.10pm.