Smoker reviews have been stuck at three stars all term long, and it’s easy to appreciate why: anyone brave enough can come and have a go, some acts are good, others bad – which makes for shows that are inevitably ‘hit and miss’.  Last night’s Corpus Smoker, however, gets that extra star.  The reason?  A shorter line-up of higher quality.

Styles ranged from the halting to the conversational but never felt awkward.  Julia Newman is female, Jewish, American and funny.  After a nervous start she developed a relaxed set, and as a relative newcomer to Cambridge she is a name to keep an eye out for.  The crazy observational humour and measured delivery of Stefan Arridge contrasted starkly with this but his jokes were delightfully and hilariously unpredictable.

Bhargav Narayanan went down well with half the room, but never got everyone onside.  His fellow comics enjoyed him the most as he trampled all over the rules of stand-up, showing no deference to the audience, and it seemed that this, far more than his smutty humour, was what had them laughing.  The room was united, however, in appreciation of Phil Wang’s closing set, whose style means that, if he just keeps talking, the jokes keep coming and the audience keeps laughing.

Whether by chance or intention, the relatively small number of acts (there were ten in the first Smoker of Michaelmas term) left time for compere Pierre Novellie to share jokes, anecdotes and wonderfully funny life stories.  His humour and manner are both first-rate, and his performances are enjoyable to watch because he so clearly enjoys being entertaining.

On the evidence of last night, the only difference between Corpus Smokers and the stand-up in ADC Footlights Smokers is that you can buy a ticket for Corpus on the door.