Tiff Stevenson: Mad Man

The Stand until August 29

Five stars

Tiff Stevenson arrives in a neon-pink dress carrying a glass of prosecco. Very feminine. She then completely demolishes the hypocrisy of advertising, attitudes to women in the Middle East, Iggy Azalea and Jennifer Lopez’s sell-out Booty video, people wearing T-shirts featuring rock bands they’ve never listened to, and Katie Hopkins (“she’d be hateful for a biscuit”). Very feminist. It’s jaw-droppingly remarkable how much ground she covers, how funny she is, how intelligent her attacks are. Stevenson doesn’t just analyse what’s wrong with the world, she analyses why she feels this way and, as a consequence, you don’t just want to laugh, you want to stand up and cheer her on. Lots of comedians this year are tackling the shooting of black men in America: Stevenson goes deeper into gun control, cop cameras as Grand Theft Auto entertainment and the “sepia-hued nostalgia” of Jack Daniels (from Lynchburg, remember) commercials. This is a heartfelt, hilarious, provocative, important hour of stand-up from one of the best in the business.

Alan Morrison