Dressed in skinny jeans and a black T-shirt, Simon Amstell exposed his loneliness, family secrets and sex life (or rather a lack of one) to 1,500 people.

His show has more in common with an Alan Bennett ‘Talking Heads’ monologue than a gag-filled stand-up routine.

The ex-host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks talks in a stream of consciousness of his angst and loneliness and of his attempts to place these feelings in a nihilistic box.

He does this with hilarious results as when he describes his attempts to meet a young, impossibly thin and attractive actor.

Before his tale is finished, the theatre as one knows that it will end in an unfulfilled farce. Such is the life of the troubled comedian.

He plays a number of awkward silences as Freddie Flintoff plays a glorious boundary. However, his stuttering suggests a nervous extrovert fulfilling his need to perform.

To conclude, he embarks on a cringeworthy tale of seedy lust for a teenager who is barely legal.

He delivers it as a hilarious statement to the authorities and it produces guffaws, embarrassment and genuine shock within the audience.

Deeply funny, deeply personal and deeply intelligent but the miniscule length of the performance would leave many feeling out-of-pocket considering the price of the ticket.