Obsessive behaviour, described as a niggling, excitable shrimp living in her brain, has been a constant for Mae throughout her life. From an innocent(ish) childhood dedication to Bette Midler to an overnight drug dependency, Dope is focused on Mae’s battle to control her impulses. I’d listened to Mae on The Guilty Feminist podcast and was instantly interested to see her live in Oxford.

This was the first show in the Dope tour of the UK and Mae was explicit in telling the audience that she was transforming a 60 minute routine perfected in Edinburgh into a fully fledged show. I am always fearful for stand-ups coming to the city; from previous experience, an Oxford audience can be quite reserved and slow to warm to the performer regardless of how funny they are. The crowd were better behaved than expected but Mae was not satisfied, and continued to try to goad us into laughing harder throughout the first half with snipes at our restrained appreciation. My companion, who saw Dope at the Fringe, said that Mae had used this tact to provoke audiences into upping their cheering game so it's easy to forgive her - it does work as a technique!

The second half was livelier; Mae’s energy was up and she was on the attack. As a performer, Mae is fantastic. She draws you in and makes you feel like you’re hanging out with a very funny friend as she recounts oddly specific sex fantasies and recreates her creepy, waistcoat-clad younger self. Unlike some comedians there isn’t a nervous tension when you watch her in action – she is confident, the material is well rehearsed and slickly presented, with room for segues. A few times Mae moved beyond her routine and allowed herself to be vulnerable, most noticeably when speaking about not talking to her parents about her drug habit. She openly said “I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” and these moments in between the comedy exposed the truth of her very human story.

A word of warning for future audience members: it is not appropriate to have a sneaky kiss when Mae is talking about bullied monkeys. You will be called out for it. If you are not already a Hocus Pocus fan, do yourself a favour and familiarise yourself with the work of Bette Midler before attending (or just google Midler in the interval as some of the audience did!).

Mae Martin is a brilliant, self-aware comedian with a talent for storytelling. Book your tickets now – it won’t be long before she’s a household name. She’ll put a spell on you.