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Up at the O2 with Suzi Ruffell review: Spectacular views and even more memorable comedy

“When my agent asked me if I wanted to play the O2 Arena this is not what I expected.” Comedian Suzi Ruffell has been a rising star for some time and last night she reached the top. Well, the top of the O2, telling rapidfire jokes on a platform on the summit, 52 vertiginous metres above the ground.

If it was unusual for the Live at the Apollo alumnus it was a hair-raisingly unique experience for the audience too. It is not every day ones goes to a comedy gig and has to give the organisers a phone number of a friend in case of emergency.

After being harnessed and hooked up for safety, the socially distanced crowd had to ascend a precipitous walkway on the outside of the dome, guided up there by experienced Sherpa-like members of the Up At The 02 team.

It was worth it all for the spectacular 360 degree city views. The comedy was eye-catching too. Ruffell is quick-thinking, witty and has funny bones to burn. She could see her old flat in the distance and recalled trying to squeeze her cat through the letterbox when she was locked out.

The Portsmouth-born comic also revealed that she had to postpone her wedding during lockdown, but on the upside has watched all of The Handmaid’s Tale. Best though were her vivid impressions of her geezerish family, most notably her loveable but monosyllabic father.

You have to have presence to hold your audience’s attention when the bright lights of the capital are blinking in the background. Ruffell kept everyone laughing with routines as tight as her sharply tailored suit and as memorable as the setting. It was not only the climb that left everyone breathless.

Also September 19, 26 and October 3 (0844 856 0202, tickets.aegeurope.com)