A hero of alternative comedy, Simon Munnery is at Soho Theatre during his latest tour – Will Gore checked out the show

Simon Munnery has been a fixture on the British stand-up scene since the alternative comedy boom in the late 1980s.

Beloved of his peers and hardened comedy fans, he has achieved cult status by developing a style that is regularly absurd, often wilfully obscure and usually very funny indeed.

Anyone who has ever seen one of his shows or club spots will also vouch for the fact that Munnery’s flights of fancy are rooted in a fierce wit and masterful command of language.

His latest show, Hats Off to the 101ers and Other Material, packs more ideas into an hour than many comics come up with in an entire career and is a marvellous showcase of his maverick talent.

As is the fashion these days, Munnery’s set has a structure, only in this case it’s not an overarching theme or story, but a flimsy arch that he tries and fails to erect at the start of the show. From this chaotic beginning all manner of silliness ensues.

The title refers to a six-minute punk musical about a doomed fleet of British zeppelins, which he dispatches early on.

Highlights from the stylistically varied show that follows include a ‘cardboard animation’ in which Munnery, with the help of an audience member, imagines the conversation between the two thieves left on their respective crosses once Jesus had been taken down, a spot of unhinged performance poetry about our dear capital city, and a magnificent monologue in which Sherlock Holmes admits his sleuthing success was based on blind luck.

When he alights on some more recognisably straight stand-up material he is still able to tease out the absurd from the mundane – after seeing this show you won't think of the humble car horn in the same way ever again.

Munnery has always been a defiantly singular presence on the circuit, and in the increasingly commercialised and homogenised world of British comedy it is a relief to know that we have still got him to turn to.

Four stars

Simon Munnery, Hats Off To The 101ers is on at Soho Theatre until January 14, click here for full details or call 020 7478 0100 for booking..