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...)

Have watched and seen live a lot of standup in my lifetime and I tried and abandoned watching this guys 4 part special on Netflix.

But I tried to give him another try after reading the reviews of this special. I turned it off half way through because he is not funny and he drones on and on without me even smirking at anything he says.

I know comedy and standup are especially fickle for what people like and I guess I just don't like this guy.

His Netflix special of 4 shows over previous years is clearly his best work. I love this man and this new content is more humbling and closer to his heart clearly. Great work as always but if you are expecting similar outlandish hypothetical scrapes this isn't it.

Edit: I put this on again the next day and have now bumped my score to 9. It definitely has a deeper meaning and is more of a cohesive routine than his others. I 'challenge' you to watch it again.

Pat Springleaf aka James Acaster picks up what he laid down in Repertoire, and this time his brilliance and razor sharp observation, wit and logic are cranked up to 11. HUGE fan of James' and can't wait for this to be released On Demand or DVD. The live stream was amazing and it needs to be watched by me many more times.

Bloody Crizzos. I love this man. He's come back with a vengeance and he's funnier than ever! Definitely going to watch this over and over.