Lou Sanders is an effortlessly likable figure with her mixture of self-deprecating humour, endearing zaniness and a beguiling unpredictability and she deserved better than the audience she got at Swindon's Wyvern theatre last weekend. 

The comedian herself, who has made a name for herself on the star-making panel shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats, QI and Would I Lie To You as well as a winning appearance on series of Taskmaster, admitted to being humbled by the small turnout for her latest standup show - One Word: Wow. 

But, after addressing that elephant in the room, the audience that was there (and bizarrely spread out) were treated to some general comedic chit-chat from Sanders as a warm-up, who assured everyone that the proper show was coming a bit later. This part of the show ended with Sanders throwing peas at people as a form of fortune telling in a weird bit that only a handful of people could pull off, herself included.

The main show centred around Sanders' new hobby that she'd picked up during the pandemic, or 'pandy' as she called it - rather incongruously for a 37 year old she revealed she'd started roller skating and had started visiting skate parks usually reserved for groups of teenagers. 

A series of 'skate diary' entries accompanied with a neat little jingle provided the structure for the show as Sanders revealed bit-by-bit of her skating adventure, which also turned into an adventurous love story with the comic meeting a much-younger man while skating. 

In between those we get a recounting of Sander's pandemic life, from amusingly volunteering as a pandemic responder and helping one particular old lady to visiting her mum and stepdad.

The show is littered with self-depreciation, with Sanders admitting that she's annoyingly high-maintenance, but also subversions of cliches that work really well. But as much as her personality often adds to the comedy, sometimes the nervous energy she delivers her jokes with betrays the sharpness of their writing. 

Still, this is a comedian who is not afraid to lay bare her miscalculations and misdeeds to make a point, and while slightly underdeveloped, her closing argument that people should push through fear to try new or uncomfortable things rather poignantly wrapped up the awkwardness of the entire set and turned it into something rather lovely. 

The show closing montage of Sanders making multiple attempt to roller skate served both as a comic reminder of her failures, but also as an inspiration. Sanders proved she was leading by example and pushing through fear, both with her stand-up, but also in real-life. If only more people had been there to get that message.