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America's Demetri Martin made his Edinburgh Festival debut in 2003 and scooped the prestigious Perrier Award, teaching his British peers a few things.
This weekend he paid a rare visit to London to plug his new book, pithily titled This is a Book, and delivered more laugh lessons. With his easy-on-the-eye collegiate appearance and easy-on-the-ears clean-cut quips, he remains stand-up's perfect package.
Critics are often castigated for revealing gags but there were so many irresistible bons mots in Martin's effortless masterclass in precision-tooled wit that mentioning a few will hardly spoil the fun. One highlight was observational humour light years from Michael McIntyre's man drawer: "All fish are skinny dipping." Further highlights were his zen-like verbal thought bubbles, as he wondered "how long did it take to make the first clock?" or where prune juice comes from if prunes are dried plums.
There is nothing showstoppingly original here.
Martin's visual sketches echo offbeat artist David Shrigley and cartoonist Gary Larson, while his gnomic asides recall US stand-up Steven Wright.
But this mop-topped wordmeister mixes his idiosyncratic ingredients like a Michelin chef of comedy. He came, he tinkered on a keyboard, strummed a guitar, worked his way through various whimsical graphs and conquered. Oh, and he bought beers for thirsty fans, doing more for Anglo-American relations in one night than Barack Obama has done in his entire Presidency.
Tonight, Shepherd's Bush Empire, W12 (0844 477 2000, livenation.co.uk)
Demetri Martin
Leicester Square Theatre
Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX
