Seven years ago, a judge at a comedy competition said this of Louise Atkinson: ‘sounds good, looks a mess.’ How do we know this? Because she tells us again and again. The Yorkshirewoman has done what any comic would do in retaliation to unfair criticism: never fully recover and write an entire show about it several years later. Atkinson delivers a well-written show about her struggles with body image and appearance in the years since receiving that hurtful comment. She criticises clothes sizing, shares the ins and outs of her binge-eating disorder and spirals off on a few millennial feminist tangents about witch hunting that aren’t actually about witch hunting. 

Although she’s absolutely correct to bash body shamers and beauty standards, a lot of her content is telling us what we already know. Women are criticised more on appearance than men? Who knew. Despite this, she does shed light on some new horrors (they’re making shapewear for MEN?! Where’s the humanity?). Sometimes the show comes across as slightly one-note and a few jokes about her weight, including shoving Curly Wurlies down her trousers, are arguably a bit too Miranda Hart-ish. But Atkinson certainly knows how to structure a comedy hour and generate plenty of laughs. 

Louise Atkinson: She’s Got The Look, Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, until 25 August, 5pm; main picture: Jiksaw.