Mike Blaha is a little like Bill Bryson. He’s arranged his life so he can spend it doing what he loves: travelling, finding new jokes, and sharing his findings in his standup shows. Just as Bryson did in his books.

A powerful technique any show or piece of writing can use is bookending, mentioning something at the beginning and then referring to it again at the end. It’s something Mike Blaha does in International Joke. He opens the show with a series of one-liners scoured from the internet.

Then he moves into the body of his routine, where he shares his travel experiences as he searches for the best joke in the world. He concludes the show with two more jokes from the internet. The bookends are those collections of internet jokes.

The opening and closing patter left me disappointed. All but one joke I’ve seen over the past three weeks on Instagram. Heck, the good ones I’ve even told my friends.

During the comedy travelogue part of the show, the jokes arose naturally from Blaha’s experiences. My favourite was his “Paris Metro mugging” story. Blaha has a skill at finding humour in his experiences. I’d have preferred if it was his own jokes we were hearing in his opening and closing patter.

One thing Blaha did that I found distracting was looking at his wristwatch five times in a 60-minute show. The first time could be overlooked, but when you’re in a one-person show in a 25-seat theatre, everything the performer does is magnified.

I’m sure the reason Blaha was checking his watch was to check his timing. But the audience received a different contagious message: I’d rather be somewhere else. How can I get out of here?

From speaking to Blaha after the show, he has plenty more material he could have used than he did. Perhaps he could do two things to improve this show: first, replace the jokes in the opening and closing patter with his own material; second, put an LED alarm clock on the technician’s desk so he can see the time easily without drawing attention to checking it.

The structure is all there. Bookending is a safe bet. And if you’re a fan of Bill Bryson’s comedic travelogues, then you’ll find something to enjoy here.