Conor O'Toole's Manual of Style

If good comedy is about finding humour in the smallest, most unlikely of places, then Conor O'Toole—still just 20 years old—is set for big things indeed. Not many comics would be able to get laughs out of the difference between the letter "R" in Helvetica font as compared to Arial, but O'Toole manages to do just that in this hilariously pedantic tour through the history of typography. 

He could have done without an awkward first few minutes of so-bad-they're-good jokes, but when he does get to the meat of the show his enthusiasm for his subject becomes obvious and highly infectious, and his ability to tease out the humour and beauty that reside in the smallest of details is remarkable.

Given the subject matter, O'Toole has an appropriately quirky and awkward manner, which instantly endears him to his audience. The middle of the show is given over to a story ostensibly designed to teach children about typography—played out in old-school style on acetate and overhead projector—though replete with adult in-jokes.

The best shows should allow you a look at the world from a different perspective as much as they should make you laugh, and Manual of Style does just this. "Keep looking at things," O'Toole says in the miniature style guide he gives out as a gift at the end of the show. "The details might not seem important but the bigger picture is nothing but a bunch of smaller pictures in one big collage. And we are all tiny artists."