Not a lot of people know it, but Jesus was the world's first stand-up comedian. By the end, however, he was playing to audiences of around 12. Still, 2,000 years on, he has hit the comeback trail. The trouble is that his US tour is derailed when he is sent to Guantánamo Bay.
Abie Philbin Bowman's intermittently insightful in-character monologue is an intriguing assault on Bushism. Guantanamo is a psychologically terrorising un-Christian place. The Messiah's only solution is to walk on water to Dublin, where - a fate even worse - he is acclaimed as the new Bono.
The problem is that this is largely a one-note performance. There are repetitive jokes about dad running the family business and frequent cringe-making asides about Life of Brian.
When the pace does change, with a provocative Auschwitz footnote, the crunch of the gear-change is deafening.
On the positive side the orange jump-suited Irishman is an affable performer. Not godlike, but certainly charming. And there are the occasional good gags.
Bowman definitely hits a bull's-eye when he says the crucifix is a simple symbol that the Olympic logo designers could have learned from.
Until Saturday. (0870 060 1742).
Jesus: The Guantanamo Years
Arts Theatre
Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JB
