Clearly a show that starts with free beers and apple cider on entry was going to be a success on so many levels.

Barrett is clearly a journeyman. His delivery, his ease with the audience and his comic timing was par excellence.

One could tell from his repartee that he had done this show a few times. Yes, he was a touch rusty needing to take a sneak peek at his trusty lectern during his show- who wouldn’t be after such a long Covid break away from live performance? Saying that, he delivered in spades.

The small crowd was in raptures - laughing loudly and often. It’s a pity the venue wasn’t sold out because the style and standard of comedy would have charged up a large audience. I suggest more punters give this man the audience size he needs by buying a ticket in the near future.

The show seamlessly covered historical facts of World War 2 and at times one felt they were in a history class in high school. However, unlike high school history, these fun facts just had the audience in stitches.

With the use of some well-chosen slides of World War 2 historical moments and also a fascination of, particular, Russian history Barrett managed to engage the enthusiastic audience with his theories on why artists need to stay employed as performers. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard a comedian plead to a reviewer, whoever they may be in the audience, to write a favourable review based on a tenuous theory of Adolf Hitler getting bad reviews for his art exhibitions and thus becoming a megalomaniac; a very funny reference to both the theme of his show and a shameless plug to give him a good review.

There were some fabulous references to boomers and the use of illicit drugs in their medications back in the day. He managed to bring this back to his days as a cruise ship comedian to the delight of the audience.

Barrett is only going to get stronger as The Fringe goes on. He is a top-class stand up comedian that deserves full houses.