This might come as a back-handed compliment to comedian Aidan Jones but, after I had just watched a stand-up comedian tank on stage, any show I watched afterward would immediately benefit. The beneficiary on this particular evening was Aidan’s show Passing Time and truth be told, with or without the horror show I’d just witnessed beforehand his performance on the night I attended absolutely killed. It always helps when you have a great, spirited, interactive crowd. And the eclectic mix of audience members who were here on this night really helped inject some fun into Aidan’s performance, happily answering his questions, taking his friendly jibes on the chin, and occasionally delivering some pretty good heckles back in return. This is the kind of approachable comedian that Aidan Jones is. He is the everyman in the truest sense of the word because, as it so happens, his show is about being fired from 14 jobs in his life. For a 31-year-old, that’s a pretty high strike-out rate and not one to be particularly proud of. But in the great Aussie tradition of making fun out of absolutely anything, Jones has managed to create a hilarious show out of it. He doesn’t brag about his job losses; instead, he explains how it has affected him and dented his self-confidence, but he still pushes on and finds the funny in the most ludicrous situations. The cherry-on-top of Passing Time is the intermittent readings Jones conducts of his grandfather’s emails. Full of inspirational quotes and reflections on life, they usually end in the most mundane and bizarre fashion, and his obsession with collecting seaweed is as beautiful as it is hysterical. He may have been fired from 14 jobs, but when he delivers laugh-out-loud shows like this one, I’d say his stand-up job is pretty safe! FOUR AND A HALF STARS *****