Josh Kornbluth, performing his monologue “Citizen Josh” at Arena Stage, is a standup comedian whose material is only in the broadest sense political. Unlike the comics who skewer politicians on a daily basis, Kornbluth comes across as an astute, benign observer of citizen participation: He clearly has a stance, but he isn’t there to defame the politicos, mock the issues or convert the audience.

During “Citizen Josh,” Kornbluth deftly creates an impressionistic sense of himself growing up in New York and being an undergraduate at Princeton University. With a few choice images, he re-creates relationships he had through the years: with his father, with a beloved professor, with his son. Some of the material is quite funny, especially a running joke about Josh’s inability to finish his senior thesis. Some of it is very moving, particularly Josh’s description of his younger brother’s early life.