Beardyman: One Album Per Hour

There are many very funny things about Beardyman. His delivery; his loud, mocking aggression; his quirk-of-nature rubbery face (honestly, he makes Jim Carrey look soulless). The kicker and real craft though is his musical manipulation. Not only does Beardyman know what 'Sub Grime' is, he knows it well enough to be able to conjure up a song from an audience lyric suggestion, on the spot.

His five tablets, plus keys, synths and various other tricks were part of what he called the 'Beardytron' – the set-up that makes him a one-man real-time studio. Perhaps The Playhouse was not the best space for the type of show (some die-hard fans were increasingly aggravated more people weren't up dancing), but blocking the view would have strangely taken away from seeing his fingers dance as he put together the tracks. He seemed to genuinely surprise himself with how easily he could slip into major scales, big smiles and Wiggles-like pantomime. Beardyman's performance is as much about music as it is about comedy. He shows just how bloody predictable our tastes in tunes are, even when we give them a ridiculous name, like the audience's suggested closer: "I Shave My Balls Myself".