Sarah Millican

The differences between men and women form a comedy subject that has been endlessly plundered. Thankfully, Sarah Millican breathes fresh life into a familiar topic during a delightful hour's entertainment. Millican herself is wonderfully friendly as she talks about “real men,” strong women and the different attitudes of both sexes to such things as pets, cars, cleanliness and crying. In a small venue, the warmth she invests in the crowd is returned tenfold; and the sense of intimacy is refreshing for a comedian of her standing, with plenty of admirers and an if.comedy best newcomer award at last year's Fringe already under her belt.

Part of her allure is perhaps her soft tongue: even when delivering riskier material on subjects like pornography, she avoids crude imagery in favour of charming allusions. But this use of flowery language is only aesthetic: the actual content of her material is sharp, well-informed and powerful. Far from simply regurgitating stereotypes, her set challenges our more intransigent attitudes on gender difference, and puts forward the much more compelling argument that each of us is, in fact, an idiosyncratic blend of 'male' and 'female' characteristics.

Her likeability means that she's never in much danger of being heckled, but even so, one is very aware that behind Millican's approachable facade lies a formidably sharp wit. So don't be fooled: what on the surface appears to be a quite straightforward evening of stand-up is nothing of the sort. Typical Woman is a fresh, intriguing and intelligent injection of new life into one of comedy's oldest preoccupations.