Capacity: Just under 50. The room is full.
The theme: This Is Not What I Was Expecting. From pancakes at the Little Chef to beauty products to childbirth the point is the same: expectations are always undermined by reality. Unless you set them really low, and that makes you a cynic. Godliman would rather not be that.
High point: Godliman's style is contemporary, but ultimately conventional observational humour. She jokes about "revolutionary" developments in shampoos, for example, or the fast-voiced small print on credit ads, but when it's done well it acquires a zest and an ebullience reminiscent of Ben Elton when he was writing jokes, not musicals. One section in particular, about women getting married so they can be treated like a princess is particularly inspired, as she conjures up a voice somewhere between Miss Piggy and Darth Vader to insist "I want myyyy daaayyyy". It's enough to make a man cower behind his uncomfortable bar stool.
Weak spot: This is Godliman's Edinburgh debut and it shows. Some bits dribble off into nothing, others require her to restate the elements of a joke, and too many punchlines rely on her simply adopting a sarcastic tone of voice. All of this is even more striking when contrasted with her moments of real, theatrical panache.
Audience participation: Not much. One punter does become an essential part of the show thanks to their amazingly sonorous bray of a laugh. It's unclear, though, whether this is a help or a hindrance.
Comic equation: Ben Elton - y chromosome + 21st century
Mark out of 10: 6
Put this on your poster: She could be brilliant! She's not quite yet.
