Radio 4 stalwart and Have I Got News For You regular Linda Smith excels in surreal ramblings and innocently-voiced caustic asides.

But her sold-out show at the Komedia was very much a tale of two acts.

Possibly finding it hard to gauge how far she could go with the largely middle-aged audience, the first half was patchy and a little nervously delivered.

She was a warm and likeable performer, more concerned that we would all have time to get to the bar during the interval than in indulging in any combative banter.

Yet she came to resemble an amiable but loquacious party guest who wasn't quite as entertaining as she thought she was.

After the break, she threw caution to the wind, injected a little more bile and began to hit her stride.

Particularly good on Bush and Blair, Prince Charles and the rail network, she peaked with an inspired line about accidentally putting your fingers through a baby's skull.

Smith is perhaps better enjoyed on radio and TV, where she is put on the spot more often and forced to live by her prodigious wits.

On the spur of the moment, her intelligence and imagination seem to take flight more readily.

Review by Warren Pegg, features@theargus.co.uk