Sitting on a crate in front of a makeshift map of the world, nursing his fiddle and bow and bursting out with wild music, wild stories, and wild hair, Aindrias de Staic received a standing ovation from his capacity crowd on Tuesday night. He began the night by tapping one foot, which he kept up for most of the performance – and I defy you not to be tapping yours as well by the end.

Despite the unprepossessing setting and set-up, this was a highly entertaining and witty show. Aindrias’ one-man cabaret is a blowsy, blustering, bohemian busker’s journey across the world with a fiddle and a with talent for improvising music and life. In fact, there is an artful blend in the show between the well-crafted elements of the script and the strategic points where Aindrias plays his own atmospheric soundtrack, and the spontaneous comedy and physical antics Aindrias often breaks into. The story unfolds as tumbling and rhythmic (and sometimes semi-unintelligible) anecdotes, punctuated with wonderful irish jigs and gypsy ballads and European folk songs, and his style is thus meandering and erratic, but his charm and energy is as infectious as his music.

Both pace and plot fell away by the end on the night I attended, but the unexpected blues number and Aindrias’ adroit dealing with a technical hitch were worth the wait. Around the World on 80 Quid is frantic and funny cabaret, with ultimately just the right blend of very good music and very clever storytelling. Go along and buy this man a green tea.

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