After ten years plugging away at stand-up comedy, you need more front than Blackpool to tell your parents you’re giving up the mic to pick up the paintbrush. Yet that’s exactly what Sydney-based comedian Sam Kissajukian did in 2021. What he didn’t know then was that he had bipolar disorder and was firmly in the grip of an extended manic phase. This show is the story of the five months, and 300 paintings, that followed. 

Kissajukian’s comedy background is apparent as he takes the floor to a backdrop of his art. Self-deprecating, he knows how to mine a laugh from almost any situation. He’s also admirably clear-sighted; there’s not a shred of self-pity as he describes what’s clearly been a difficult journey. Instead, he focuses on the joy of the destination and the peace of where he finds himself now: neither comedian nor artist, simply himself. 

Yet the paintings are good: he’s bagged a couple of exhibitions in Australia and there’s an opportunity to view a selection of his canvases in a side room before or after the show. Perhaps less successful was the month he devoted to inventing one thing every day, while staying up all night pitching to American hedge funds, although this does lead to a wildly funny scheme of a business plan to reinvent business plans with predictably snowballing results. Ultimately, Kissajukian has a unique and important story to tell and, between the stand-up and his art, a remarkable set of tools with which to tell it. 

300 Paintings, Summerhall, until 26 August, 10.55am.