He does a good bookend, does Stephen Merchant. There during the encore part of this stand-up show is a performance of one of his first scripts - a play called Issues, apparently penned and first performed in his late 80s high school years.
Aided by a couple of audience volunteers, it was a hilarious wrap-up to the largely hilarious preceding hour. When one of his supporting players has to give birth, the only prop to hand to portray the newborn was, fancy that, the Golden Globe he won as co-creator of The Office, the groundbreaking early 2000s Brit-com which, with its US spin-off probably means he really doesn't have to work again.
But there it was - Merchant's fledging talent and proof of his showbiz success colliding in a telling punchline.
Merchant's show, entitled Hello Ladies, might have been themed on his ongoing search for a Mrs Merchant. And that despite his trophy-laden mantelpiece, how his various flaws - lankiess, geekiness, stinginess among them, all neatly exaggerated on stage - hasn't made it any easier.
But, there's another undercurrent to his routine: Shouldn't all that success make you feel better, even if you have no-one to share it with? Oh and what happens when you're an unfeasibly tall funny bloke who gets famous, but not as famous as your writing-directing-acting partner?
