Sally-Anne Hayward: Hey, Follower!

Hayward’s audience is undeservedly small today, and as she shuns the ridiculous concept of needing a mic, we all very politely skirt around the fact that the two of us (the audience) are clearly both reviewers.

The show very much felt we’d all met in the pub after a couple of pints – intimate, personal without being uncomfortably revealing, and very charming. Whilst huge belly laughs would have jarred in the cosy, personal atmosphere Hayward pulled her show into, the lines that would kill a larger room still shine through as we chuckle comfortably at them.

In an objective sense, the show could be said to be quite ‘girly’ – including material about cats, ex-boyfriends and fallopian tubes – but it avoids any cliché in capitalising on this. It’s a well-balanced show with something for everyone, my only criticism being that it’s perhaps too safe in this attempt to please everybody.

Her closing rap was also a bit misjudged – too awkward in an attempt to show awkwardness, or perhaps it just doesn’t quite know what it’s trying to be. Either way, it doesn’t quite hit the right tone and she doesn’t need it.

This is a lovely wee piece of charming comedy. [Lizzie Cass-Maran]