One thing that you notice about the Edinburgh Festival is the compact format that the performers have to adhere to. There is a sense of desperation to make an impact straight away. Unless you have more than the usual hour segment, or you are blessed with having a compere, you have the uphill struggle of pleasing a cold audience. I say this to defend Rob Deering who, like a number seen at the festival this year, suffered in this way.

Deering is good at holding your attention on stage, the stocky shaven head cheeky chappy image does work very well, but you can imagine him as a schoolboy, the type who would hold court at the back of any classroom. His act was comprised of a few recurring themes, namely music and a seemingly bitter view of religion. Religious humour needs to have some knowledge behind it to make it stick. For example Bill Hicks (possibly the most outspoken critic of organised religion) would always use well-informed comments backing up the joke. Unfortunately, at times Deering was in danger of going into the same old rant we've seen from countless comedians time and time again when they're scratching around for laughs.

Taboo is never something to shy away from and to his credit Rob Deering never does. But when it loses you 6 out of a crowd of 36 people a reworking of the Pete Townsend joke may be required. It has been said of Deering that he uses a "gently mocking" technique. Unfortunately brief flashes of spite occasionally give the schoolboy a vaguely sinister look. What must be remembered is that in the same way that Taboo can be very funny if tackled with skill, cheeky can also be offensive if its handled crudely.

Deering is obviously an extremely skilled musician, and it shows that the love of the music he talks about is genuine. Unfortunately the invitation for the audience to call out songs and themes for him to play was slightly optimistic. When the jokes dried up the act turned into a sort of Karaoke name that tune. There were moments of skilled humour in this act and these showed what he is obviously capable of. A meatier range of material is needed to extend the horizon further than the interests of Deering himself.