There’s a certain ephemeral beauty to one-night-stand comedy shows: the cast and crew have poured their efforts into a single one-hour performance for one lucky audience to witness before everyone parts ways and moves onto the next project. Libby-Come-Lately is perhaps the first one-night stand where I’ve been truly upset about it being only one night — because if Libby Thornton had more performances lined up, I’d find myself trekking to the ADC at 11pm to see the show again and again.

Libby-Come-Lately, written and performed by Footlight Libby Thornton, is a testament to engaging anecdotal and character comedy. The show was framed as an open mic night, but Thornton herself became not only the compère but every guest coming to perform. Thornton kicked things off with a deep dive into her childhood obsession with Niall Horan and schoolyard crush Jack, complete with readings from her old journals and screencaps of her old Instagram One Direction stalker-fan account. In doing so, she set the tone for a production that deftly lampooned modern life, pop culture, and her own follies.

“Thornton is one of the most talented and multifaceted stand-ups in the Cambridge comedy scene”

Thornton jumped from compère to character, embodying a makeup influencer, hamster breeder, chill priest, misogynistic bar-dwelling lout, and pelvic-floor fitness instructor over the course of the evening. With each character, she offered poignant reflections on her life experiences wrapped in the humour of silly voices and physical eccentricities, placing Thornton firmly as one of the most talented and multifaceted stand-ups in the Cambridge comedy scene.

Thornton also had a talented tech team behind her, seamlessly moving through PowerPoints and prerecorded videos while Thornton narrated or disappeared offstage to change into another character. The lighting design by Amelia Cordwell and set design (complete with Niall Horan cardboard cutout) in particular complemented Thornton’s use of the stage to its fullest as she moved energetically from standing to sitting to sprawling across the stage floor.

Alongside the cringey, schadenfreude-laden anecdotes and the well-executed and well-differentiated characters, Thornton laid bare some deeply personal stories from her childhood and young adulthood while keeping people in the theatre rapt with her commanding stage presence. The audience went pin-drop silent at the mention of the untimely death of Thornton’s friend, only to erupt back into laughter at the string of punny ways Thornton could try greeting her deceased friend at the open-casket wake.

I am wholly impressed with the entire team behind this show and the cohesive, polished experience they created for the audience. From the opening voiceover to the closing remarks, everyone in the audience was engrossed in the stories Thornton told and the characters she brought to life through clever costuming, compelling physicality, and damn good jokes.

As Thornton took her bows, I found myself mourning the end of the performance and wishing she would burst back onstage in a funky new outfit with its accompanying voice and eccentricities. But I know this won’t be the last I see of Libby — with the amount of talent she has for comedy, I won’t be surprised to see her on Netflix with her own special in the near future. Or wherever she thinks her talents are best used… without a doubt, she’s on her way to being a newcomer — or comedian-come-lately — in professional entertainment.

Libby-Come-Lately played at the ADC Theatre on Thursday March 9th, 11pm.