Robert Newman, Leicester Square Theatre - comedy review: 'the most intellectually ambitious comedian I have ever seen'

Another newspaper critic called Robert Newman, "the funniest comedian I have ever seen". That seems generous but he is certainly the most intellectually ambitious comedian I have ever seen. His latest show will make you laugh when not making your brain strain.

In New Theory of Evolution the former arena-filling veteran develops the idea that progress comes through co-operation rather than competition. He sets himself up against his bogeyman Richard Dawkins, satirising his concept of the selfish gene with a routine about a postman trying to deliver a parcel to Dawkins and ending up wrestling naked with him.

This is a typically inventive vignette in a rapidfire set which awkwardly straddles stand-up gig and academic lecture. Newman’s cool pin-up days are long gone. He is still a handsome, engaging figure but in his saggy suit he looks like he has arrived via the British Library rather than the Groucho.

There is no doubting the scope of a show that references buffalo herding instincts, Dickens and Russian thinker Kropotkin who, Newman informs us, had a unlikely soft spot for Bromley. Yet it is noticeable that the moments that get the loudest response are an impersonation of Ronnie Corbett and an anecdote about swearing in front of children.

While Newman’s heavyweight thesis is certainly interesting, these light-hearted riffs remind us what he is so good at. An encore in which he loosened up further and portrayed his landlord as a comedically sinister figure reiterated that while Newman is fiercely intelligent it would not hurt his comedy reputation — or his box office takings — if he made his material more accessible.

Tonight (0844 873 3433, leicestersquaretheatre.com)