Despite having graduated from Cambridge 3 years ago, Liam Williams still has a lot of friends, as his sold out gig at the ADC went to show. Dubbed ‘one to watch’ by Varsity exactly a year ago, anticipation had clearly been building for the ex-Footlights comic’s return. Same show, same date - new sidekick.

Henry Staples, a speccy wisp of hilarity, provided a smooth warm-up for Williams, somehow managing to garner affection from the audience without looking up from his feet. Despite a couple of lukewarm jokes about Ghanaians and bus drivers, the audience clicked with Staples’ fumbling, coltish demeanour, and a soft-spokenness that only thinly veiled some searing comedy.

Liam Williams is Staples plus 30 years and a smidgen of psychosis. A ‘weird, pallid, anaemic Wolverine lookalike’ (his words), Williams was dishevelled bordering on hermit, with hair so greasy it held itself upright with Jedward-esque ferocity. Whereas Staples’ comedy was offbeat/downbeat, though still oozing dewy eyed charm, Williams’ was caustic and biting (his cool annihilation of The Tab Theatre Guide Dog was a highlight).

There was a startling tragicomedy to Williams' set, with gags about his grandparents’ imminent death sat next to the odd bit of ghetto speak or a few lines of poetry. That Williams managed to pull off such remarkable voltes-face is a tribute to his easy stage presence. His grumpiness was avuncular and comforting: when the audience didn’t provide the response he’d expected, he’d retort cantankerously, ‘Fine’. Most impressively, Williams carried his audience with him wherever he went, be it to Charybdis or Clapham. As his gig came to a triumphant close with the hilariously meta- ‘May Ball Show Reel’, I didn’t doubt we’d be seeing a lot more of Liam Williams come summer.