On Stage: 'Funnier Than Them' both ridiculous and sublime

I love standup comedy, I really do, but sometimes it seems that many comedians go for the obvious - politicians, people with mental illness, their wives and girlfriends and mothers, or people from neighbourhoods they find foreign and "otherwise".

Sacred cows are there to be slaughtered and enjoyed with your favourite chakalaka, but more creativity and nuance make the funny ridiculous stand out from the funny sublime. Funnier than Themdishes out both. Warren Robertson, Chris Forrest and Deep Fried Man used the title like an arrow pointing to the competition at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

A week-long gig at the Theatre on The Square in Sandton shows this cheek may have paid off.

Deep Fried Man, with his guitar and earnest pathos, has a way of getting one to relate to him and still laugh at his ridiculousness. Forrest has a brilliant sense of timing that catches one off-guard, and Warren Robertson is the cringe element. MC Gerry D' Atric is a creative winner.

• 'Funnier than Them' is on until Sunday, R130, strictlytickets.com