Stephen Grant - Second

Second is the new first for Stephen Grant. Having spent a lifetime of over-competitiveness but never being the winner, he is discovering all those areas where being second doesn't necessarily mean you are a runner-up. While airlines cut complicated semantic jigs to ensure no one travels second class, in the bedroom, coming second can be a positive thing.

Image: Claes Gellerbrink

With a brilliantly pedantic eye for detail, the one-time computer programmer makes strong use of audio-visual aids. He even opens the show off-stage, projecting his typed interactions with the audience, picking individuals to banter with and asking the second – the second person on the second row in the second block, of course – to whoop him onto the stage.

Which would be nothing, if it were not all built around a hugely engaging on-stage persona. While the show is scripted, Grant's non-invasive interaction with the audience ensures that there is a real live edge to it. The occasional passing mention of current events indicates a performance that evolves with time, place and audience.

There's plenty of hard work here in the creation of new and original material, with the postal service taking a particular battering in a genuinely different and innovative manner. Top material, well served.