Tubs of Fun, featuring Sandy Burton at the Newtown Community Hub, starts with a big splash. I arrive early for the show and am impressed by the number of audience members who are evidently friends and neighbours! Burton’s entrance and clearly delighted reaction to seeing familiar faces establishes a happily expectant atmosphere, as well as that most important factor for a comedian: connection and likeability.

Being a Newtown dweller means dressing for the part, and Burton has paid special attention to this with an outfit for which eclectic is an understatement. “I’m one of the gang now,” is his way of putting it.

Burton is not part of the current Comedy Festival, and I can relate to his distaste for the form filling that’s required. He still has a sponsor though – oh yes. The clue is in his show’s title and the onstage paraphernalia. That the sponsor’s letter contains a veiled threat to the performer is of course no problem.

We get to hear about Burton’s teenage days and in particular about his driving lessons. Asked to identify hazards, he pelts the instructor with endless examples … That of Brian Tamaki in a pothole is the best.

Much appreciated by me is the wholesomeness of Burton’s material. At no point does he descend to swearing or delivering smut, both features of the cringeworthy comedy gala show I witnessed recently. Instead, we get pertinent social commentary, a recipe for a comedy show, an invitation to supply punchlines – something his audience proves surprisingly good at – and an excellent reason for feeding your newborn tinned chakras.

His team includes front of house Zach Mandeville and lighting technician Angelica Blevins.

“Pretending to be a tub info show trying to be a comedy,” is how Burton describes his own work. His final splash emphasises that: he does pretty well at both.

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