Mark Dolan is an optimist; he thinks that a lot of things in life are 'awesome' and he wants to enrich our lives by going through them with us in the hopes we will leave uplifted.

Bounding on stage with a beaming smile, upper middle class diction and the demeanour of a children’s TV presenter, Dolan has made a list of people and things that are, in his view, 'awesome'. This is a major problem: the bulk of this show is just him reading from this list with little or no exploration of the themes and ideas. Whilst never actually being terrible it also never manages to be very good. Many of the jokes and references seem tired and outdated (McDonald’s sponsoring the Olympics, Victoria Beckham being skinny) and the moments of audience interaction are sporadic and awkward (moreso on this particular evening when one of the people brought on stage fainted).

We could all do with celebrating more the things that make us laugh but there are significantly more awesome things to see this festival that will do that job.

Gilded Balloon, 662 6552, until 25 Aug (not 12), 7.45pm, £9–£10 (£7.50–£8.50).