1 Woman, a Dwarf Planet and 2 Cox: Samantha Baines

Standup and science remain two professional domains where the gender imbalance still needs some redressing. Enter Samantha Baines, performing a show that, on the most perfunctory level at least, offers both. 

Cleverly transposing the conventions of observational comedy to a more interstellar context ("Mars is like that guy who..." and so on), 1 Woman, a Dwarf Planet and 2 Cox loosely documents her action plan for romantically ensnaring Professor Brian Cox. Setting aside her limited success in luring the eccentric BBC boffin thus far (she tweets him every day, so there's still hope), as a premise for material it works well. Her comic persona falls somewhere within the realm of "flustered stalker", and it's generally a hit. 

A gambit that threatens to undermine the entirety of her good work however is the "pun bell" she bestows upon an audience member. Perhaps it depends on the restraint (or lack thereof) shown by a given punter but here the ding only served to highlight the jokes that failed to land. They're instructed to ring it whenever she pulls off a pun but its overly liberal use turns it into a sort of echo chamber of silence, a Pavlovian reminder of deficient punchlines. 

The conclusion is also a tad muddled in its message. Is it about girl power? Unrequited love? Respecting your elders? She flits between these just at the time she's trying to anchor it all thematically. Still, there's plenty to enjoy, learn and be encouraged by here.