"Local Lad Does Good At Guilfest 2004" would be the tabloid headline here. Currently living in Guildford, Paul Kerensa had the advantage of playing at home, and it showed.

His material well was honed to the audience, taking in a mix of excellent one liners ("I think you should be able to hit children...no, I mean competitively...") and more elaborate constructions including an excellent segment using mathematical symbols to differentiate between styles of comedian. The props he used were clear and right at hand, not interrupting the flow of words for more than a second.

He was extremely confident moving from one story to another, showing a very professional part of himself. Any heckles by the crowd were swiftly worked into the set, the maths background returned for some inspired prop-based maths put downs (sadly not re-printable here), and the longer stories entertained consistently, with an extended section about Cornwall working very well in tandem with a young man sat near the front of the crowd.

His finale, going back to the props one last time, was slick and well presented. Overall, he impressed with with his control of the stage and the crowd, and the quality of thought that had gone into his act. I hope we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.