Self-help gangsta style

All of a sudden, spoof motivational speakers are a growth industry. A week ago, the Perrier Award was won by Jackson's Way, a bizarre show about a delusional American lifecoach.

Tonight, Neil Mullarkey is bringing his 'gangsta motivator' L Vaughan Spencer - or 'L-Vo', as he styles himself - back to town for the first of two shows at Mullarkey's regular stomping ground, the Comedy Store.

Mullarkey hasn't seen Jackson in action but has been reassured that the two characters have little in common. 'L-Vo is more of a satire,' he says, 'real things turned up a tweak.

He's lots of bullies I have met in the real world, as well as a lot of people in the self-help world who have confidence beyond their ability.' Mullarkey has recently added a goatee to his onstage ponytail to distance himself further from the horrendous L-Vo, author of Juicing For Entrepreneurs and the first motivational book for children, Hw 2 B A Sucssfl T-nager.

But the proliferation of TV life coaches, not to mention The Office, has made Mullarkey's spin on success-culture sophistry more accessible than when he first played the character a couple of years ago.

And, like David Brent, L-Vo has influences that amusingly exceed his ability to grasp them. 'He thinks he's the Che Guevara of change,' says Mullarkey. 'But he doesn't really know what that means. He thinks Che Guevara was the Ricky Martin of politics.'

Tonight and Sep 13, Comedy Store, 1a Oxendon Street SW1, 8pm, £12. Tel: 0870 060 2340. Tube: Piccadilly Circus