Lewis Schaffer

There is no act on the circuit quite like Lewis Schaffer, and there may never be again. The American comedian — New York-bred, south-east-London-based since 2000 — turns the stand-up gig into something closer to a high-wire act: shambolic, self-sabotaging, brutally honest and absolutely compelling. You're never quite sure if it's falling apart on purpose. That's the genius of it.

The man has form. Back in New York he was resident MC at the legendary Comedy Cellar and the Boston Comedy Club. In London his show Free Until Famous became the longest-running solo stand-up show in the city, racking up hundreds of performances since 2008. He took the Malcolm Hardee Cunning Stunt Award in 2009 and a nomination for Comic Originality the year after, and he's been a fixture of the Fringe and London's late-night scene ever since.

Go in expecting polish and you've misunderstood the assignment. Go in for something raw, unrepeatable and genuinely thrilling, and Lewis Schaffer delivers every time.

Exactly the sort of beautiful trouble we can't resist booking.