Rachel Stubbings: Stubbing out Problems

It's always a brave move to incorporate a period of total silence into your comedy act, but Stubbings carries this off beautifully; and the quiet in the room is only broken by barely-stifled sniggers. She's a very talented actress and believably keeps up her persona of miguided agony aunt, occasionally interacting with the crowd and ad-libbing, for the full hour.

The general flow through the show is of her coming to terms with her parents' marriage break-up, her ex-boyfriend issues, and her role as mender of others' personal problems, and it keeps our attention throughout. She gently mocks a few folk in the front rows ,but her charming delivery keeps the crowd on side and the laughs rolling. The use of the 'interactive' screen, as actors describe their (often cringeworthy, frequently hilarious, and always clever) issues is quite inspired, and does feel like a live Skype.  It could cause problems in the hands of a less confident performer, but is perfectly used here.

The only low points come as she answers audience problems. Although some funny replies do appear, there are a few awkward moments as the flow stutters slightly. And if that's the only problem, it's easily stubbed out.