Mark Daniels is a stand-up comic, and he’s written this tragic-comic one-hour monologue for himself. He plays Mikey, a gay man in his mid-thirties who is planning a romantic proposal. To that end, he’s sitting on a park bench practicing his speech to a balloon with a face drawn on it; can he find the words he requires to express his love? Mikey can’t help being a non-stop joke machine, but his groanworthy gags (‘what kind of salad does Elton John like? He’s a rocket man’) are a way of avoiding a tragic backstory that connects, not to the balloon, but the bench he’s chosen.

Daniels has crafted a layered story in which the audience come to understand Mikey’s insecurity and the reasons why this particular situation means so much to him. A Man Proposes To A Balloon, Or Possibly Something Worse (to give the piece its full title) slowly comes together, as Mikey’s distraction techniques are gradually overturned to reveal his inner heartbreak. There’s more to this than just some sub-Richard Curtis sweetness, and Daniels has a keen grasp of his character, but too much repetition and heavy reliance on pathos hampers the overall effect of this performance.

A Man Proposes To A Balloon, Or Possibly Something Worse, Gilded Balloon Patter House, until 31 August, 1pm.