Simon Brodkin has spent most of his career mining his creation Lee Nelson, but the pranking of major cultural and political figures has placed him firmly on the cultural radar. This latest hour, Screwed Up, finds Brodkin reflecting on his most infamous stunts while he comes to terms with a recent ADHD diagnosis and compares himself favourably with the Ukrainian president (and former comedian) Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Brodkin’s comedy characters have seldom been developed enough to work in large doses, but the persona he assumes as himself onstage is a satisfyingly knotty one. He’s a vain, selfish and arrogant careerist happily weaponizing his diagnosis to excuse any bad behaviour and it’s a testament to his performative self-regard that he manages to focus global catastrophes like the war in Ukraine and coronavirus entirely on his life. 

His pouting, preening delivery gives this this grab-bag hour a bracing sense of momentum, making it easy to forgive the patchier moments of topical comedy. But where it shines is in Brodkin’s moments of unashamed vanity or in discussions of ADHD and his debauched wayward behaviour, resulting in an hour with oodles of low-level subversion.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 August, 9.40pm.