Review by Steve Bennett

This is a traditional stand-up show featuring three comics from the Hackney Empire New Act competition final. As all are relatively early in their careers, it is pretty much what you would expect ­ OK, but nothing special.

Starting a show with the words: "Hello, Edinburgh!" uttered with no sense of irony was a little worrying; and all three had an understandable but almost desperate need to interact directly with individual punters ­ which is a problem if, like tonight, the responses are mostly monosyllabic.

Roisin Conaty had the difficult task of being both MC and delivering her stage act, which resulted in a rather over-the-top delivery. She also bafflingly referred to the ancient TV series MacGyver as if it were a central cultural icon. And, when an audience member mentioned the recent bad weather, she referred to it as "classic English stuff" ­ guaranteed to disgruntle audiences in Scotland.

Top of the triple bill was Ava Vidal, who has developed into a potentially significant act. When she admits to having worked in the Prison Service, it causes an immediate alienating frisson. But, when the audience heard why she had been sacked, they began to relax. The routine is the sort that works best for her: a truthful, personal insight into a world apart from most of her audience's experience.

Most interesting of the three was Kerry Godliman who, like Conaty, tended to deliver a series of unconnected jokes rather than an integrated routine. But her relaxed speech patterns were more natural and more confident, possibly because she is an experienced actress. Her subjects were run-of-the-mill stand-up fodder, but I suspect if she finds more personal and more heartfelt obsessions to weave a script round, she may yet be the one to watch.

Review date: 1 Jan 2004
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett