Andy Zaltzman, Soho Theatre - comedy review

In the middle of Satirist for Hire, in which Andy Zaltzman fires back answers to audience questions, someone wondered why he does not have his own television series. The frizzy-haired comic did not really need to reply. We could see the reason clearly. He is far too clever for television.

Zaltzman has the kind of whip-smart, sophisticated brain that makes Stephen Fry seem dim. He is best known for his topical podcast The Bugle with John Oliver, who has a television series on HBO. They both share a similarly sardonic sensibility but maybe Zaltzman’s relentless delivery is not quite as accessible as Oliver’s more relaxed approach.

Onstage his material shuttles between scripted and improvised. The questions are emailed to him in advance, so there is time for some preparation. A Scottish fan prompts a pithy Referendum riff, while an Iranian cues up a concise overview of the Middle East.

His best flights of fancy are deliciously daft and occasionally Pythonesque. Zaltzman imagines God has a PA called Brenda and suggests that Jews should be allowed to eat bacon if they do it ironically. Throwaway asides hit home too. “Meet me outside Parliament at midnight. Bring a match,” he mutters when someone says something vaguely seditious.

But other jokes fall awkwardly flat. He has a gizmo that plays the “true” version of audience opinions of his performance, so that if they say he is “OK” the machine says something like “astounding”. The gag gets a moderate titter and Zaltzman suggests it needs a bit of fine tuning. The same could be said for much of this enjoyable if inconsistent show.

Until Saturday (020 7478 0100, sohotheatre.com)