James Acaster: Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999

I watched the show last night and I've continued thinking about it long into today. I loved the 4 Netflix specials, the mixture of great comedy with what I would argue is even better theatre, acting and story-telling. It appears to be so natural and yet having followed him for years I know it's a craft he is perfecting with time.

This show is another huge step forward however. It's just brilliant. Yes it's extremely funny, but it's much more than that. It's a one-man show that is up there with any performance of a classic, stripped-down play you could hope to see. Timing, silences, changes of pace, changes of tone. It's meticulous. It's personal, biting, thoughtful and full of insight into the challenges of life. For some reason it really reminded me of catcher in the rye. To be able to create that in a comedy show is really something to behold. With no disrespect to other comedians, I can only imagine the time that goes into it - it's true art in a genre that typically lacks it I think.

I genuinely believe he is starting to create a new niche in comedy, and I hope he's able to continue down that path. It's not for everyone, but what comedy is (other than Mr Bean perhaps...)