Carrying a plate of spaghetti and singing a Latin-style serenade about a missing meatball, Lucas Jefcoate takes the stage for his debut Fringe show. Confident and playful, he instantly shows promise. But after inviting the audience to laugh at his metrosexual, oat-milk-drinking appearance, little more is learned about the young comedian. Instead, he lays into several Gen Z stereotypes about wokeness and excessive screen time that are amusing on TikTok’s ‘For You’ page, but fall flat when put in front of a live audience.

Some gags hold up better, like the irony of a stoner with asthma or his bisexual girlfriend’s insistence on calling him her ‘partner’, as if they’re detectives. But these stand-outs get lost between random, half-baked concepts such as swapping eating and toilet routines. Still, all could be saved by a personable edge or a compelling character arc; he does nod to his modern understanding of masculinity, which could prove interesting but is never fully developed. Instead, by remaining comfortably surface-level, the show lacks much to buy into. He has the posture of a comedian beyond his years, but his hour leaves something to be desired. 

Lucas Jefcoate: If I’m Not Somebody, I’m Nobody, Assembly Roxy, until 30 August, 3.10pm; picture: Rachel Sherlock.