Paul Foot has always presented himself as an otherworldly creature on stage, somewhat aware of modern life but far too interested in whimsy to ever fully concern himself with it. So, in Dissolve, it’s something of a shock to find him merging his trademark ‘disturbances’ and curious vocal cadences with a palpable frustration at right-wing hypocrisy and sections of heart-on-sleeve discussions of trauma. 

He acknowledges that harsh subject matter isn’t what most of his fans would expect, but this left turn into comedy-as-therapy seems to stem less from a desire to put his audience through the wringer, and more from an earnest attempt to use humour as a tool for catharsis for both himself and the crowd, and to extol a positive message about healing.

At times, watching this typically guarded comedian strip back the layers to reveal genuine vulnerability is a revelatory experience, but the fact that Foot has merged such troubling material seamlessly alongside entertaining tangents about a teenage Tutankhamun or the invention of pianos is admirable, and point to a master of his craft. There’s still no one quite like Foot on the British comedy scene. Removing some of the artifice from his persona has, perhaps unexpectedly, amplified his uniqueness all the more. 

Paul Foot: Dissolve, Underbelly Cowgate, until 27 August, 7.20pm (plus 25 August, 10.50pm).