IN his one-man show, Romesh Ranganathan is every bit the occasionally chippy, but mostly chirpy comic viewers will recognise from the glut of panel shows punctuating our television diet.

Others will recognise him from his own documentary series Asian Provocateur in which he is sent by his mother on a "ramshackle odyssey" around his parents' homeland of Sri Lanka in an attempt to connect him with his roots.

He mentions this show to good effect in his 90-minute set, asking if anyone had watched it, and when greeted with a weak cheer from the sell-out Lowry audience, mocks himself for having made such a poorly viewed programme.

In truth, the six-part BBC Three series was well-received, and is still there for anyone to watch online — I recommend it.

In his stand-up show, he bemoans the fact that his mother is now more famous than him, despite all the long hours he has put in over the years building up his comedy career.

The show, which Ranganathan took to Edinburgh last year, explores the "rationality of his worldview" — according to the show's promo material, at least.

And while you could argue that the set does do this, there is no real theme — this is just 90 minutes of his best stand-up — and jolly good it is too.

I'm not a great fan of themed shows with a title. They often seem ill-conceived, with the comedian desperately trying to find a bit of a meaning or conclusion at the end of a compilation of their favourite routines.

Thankfully, Ranganathan does not attempt this. He just gives the audience what they want. Jokes, routines, and a good hour and a half of his infectious comedy.

He tries his best to be grumpy, but you can't help but warm to this man, who is just as willing to laugh at himself as his audiences.

He covers family (he has three sons, poor man); race and religion; food (he's overweight and tells us how he recently apologised to his wife for the state of his body); and modern culture.

He dips in and out of the audience with great aplomb, showing that despite the fact his mum may now be more famous than him, he's still funnier.

RATING: ****