Memories are made of this. Or rather this is made of memories. Closet scientist Rosie Wilby’s affable show puts the brain’s ability to remember under the microscope and while this is not exactly an unforgettable monologue, it does reveal a talented performer with a winning self-deprecating personality.

On a stage set resembling a lecture hall after some particularly brutal budget cuts, Wilby, in lab coat and safety goggles, rattles dottily through the way our minds work with the aid of a table of cheap props. Tommy Cooper would have had a field day. Wilby is less assured, but she gets a few good giggles out of a rude sight test chart that has seen better days and some newspaper photofit pictures.

She is at her best when weaving her own fictional romantic problems into the cod-academic narrative, which dips its toes into areas ranging from contemporary neuroscience to Greek mythology. The sharpest moments are the asides about failed relationships and catastrophic crushes. Further comic capital could have been made out of these. More could also have been made out of her meeting with the UK’s memory champion.

Towards the end any scientific rigour peters out, though not before we have learnt a handy method for remembering where we have left our keys and a unique way to be sure one has not left the iron on when leaving the house. This was worth the ticket price alone. Not outstanding, but promising enough to make one eager to see what this appealing oddball does next.
Tonight and tomorrow, Etcetera Theatre, NW1 (020 7482 4857, www.etceteratheatre.com).