I am so happy! Finally, a show that I can recommend without qualification. Okay, so there’s an age restriction, which is there for the wondrously coarse language (come on, are we really still bothered by the mention of seeing you next Tuesday?), but the script is so intensely inventive that the four-letter words only accentuate the glorious prose spilling from Randy’s toothless, fabric mouth. And by such prose, what a narrative is formed! We’re treated to those rare gems: beginning, middle and end, but the structure never feels constricting, and though spatially limited, Randy allows himself plenty of time to explore the audience off-script. This can prove to be dangerous territory for lesser comedians, but Randy seems impossibly well-equipped to deal with each and every one of us.

I’m giddy I tell you: giddy! And yet the topic, of course, is sobriety. A depressing focus, one might imagine, but no, Randy extrapolates and universalises his theme from keenly observed personal struggles to the inclusion and cheer of us all. The finely crafted narrative arc slowly but surely exposes the ideologies and simulacra that direct our lives unseen, with a wit that is cunning, critical, but never cocky.

Right. Seriously. It’s time to stop reading this and book tickets. This is the best comedy performance I’ve seen at the festival, and if you don’t laugh then your puppeteer’s probably dead.

Randy is Sober, Udderbelly’s Pasture, 3-29 Aug (not 15), 9.10pm