Tatiana Ostrakova is a Russian stand-up who claims to have come straight from playing Jongleurs Minsk. Jo Selby plays he beautifully, resisitng the temptation to over-perform.

The idea has been done before, a foreign visitor unaccustomed to the ‘British’ way of doing things but Selby keeps it fresh and most importantly funny. The only thing lacking was the lack of a decent ending. Either Selby was either thrown by the lack of response to her material involving the glove puppet Mr Tinkle, or she has written an awkward climax purposefully to push the audience.

But it didn’t work tonight and left the room feeling a little confused and quiet. Without that hiccup, her genuinely exciting comedy creation would surely have been good enough to earn a place.