Alfie Brown has been frequenting the Edinburgh Fringe for many years, painstakingly building his reputation as a highly witty and consistently brilliant comic. His experience is evident as soon as he steps on stage, calmly adjusting to his room, scanning for any oddballs looking absent or distracted while he begins proceedings. Several phone-scrollers and hecklers provide him with minutes of material tonight, as he savagely (but fairly) disarms them one by one, much to the enjoyment of an otherwise polite crowd. ‘But anyway, let’s begin the show,’ he says almost 20 minutes in.

His latest hour, Sensitive Man, is a showcase of traditional stand-up at its best. With no real need for a narrative arc, Brown reels off jokes about his non-conventional family set-up and carefully dissects double-standards experienced in heterosexual partnerships. Whether it’s being a father to babies, toddlers and eight-year-olds or testing out an open relationship (before it was scuppered by the pandemic), Brown can turn the mundane into gags in an instant.

^{Pictures: James Deacon}

The theme of this show (if pushed to identify one) is Brown’s ability to tiptoe along potentially problematic lines without ever wobbling over the edge. As a comic with his level of experience and tact, you can only assume this is a personal challenge he sets for himself. But on this journey to navigate the era of hyper-sensitivity and ‘cancel culture’ as ‘another’ straight, white male in the stand-up circuit, Brown proves he’s a cut above. Let’s hope his ability to write and perform challenging yet entirely accessible material year after year will lead to an Edinburgh Comedy Award win one day. And this year could well be it.

Monkey Barrel, until 28 August, 9pm.