The last time Shappi Khorsandi appeared at the Soho Theatre she was in the tiny studio room.

This time she is in the biggest space and tickets are like gold-dust. Next time she will be in an even larger venue. Thanks to numerous television appearances and lashings of talent this is a comedian on the cusp of household-name fame.

This petite 37-year-old also has a unique selling point. Michael McIntyre cannot say that his father was an Iranian satirist who fled to London when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power and had to hide his family from assassins.

During a wide-ranging show that deftly juggles mainstream humour and hard-hitting rumination, a chilling joke evokes the scenario: “The Iranian regime strongly advocates free speech, but there is no freedom after you’ve spoken.” The Distracted Activist is peppered with pithy one-liners like this. Multiculturalism and the travails of motherhood feature heavily.

Khorsandi is wittiest when she unites these strands, such as recalling the nurses suggesting her new-born baby was mixed race. The only time one can truly use that phrase, the star argued, is when referring to mermaids. 

She is consistently good on prejudice, whether remembering playground National Front bullies or sarcastically sympathising with Nick Griffin being ganged up on during Question Time (“We love an underdog!”).

There are further cherishable quips regarding the lighter side of her youth. Today’s lovestruck mobile-touting teens can pop out while waiting for an admirer to call, she could not even pop to the lavatory, instead staying glued to the telephone in the hall.

All this is delivered in a self-mocking, relaxed style. Sometimes too relaxed. Chatting with the audience is a good way of getting them onside, but sometimes her banter scuttled down dead ends. Yet whenever it looked as if she was running out of steam she bounced back. With a little editing this enjoyable show could be enthralling.

The best story was saved until last. Khorsandi recently booked a cab to take her to numerous gigs in one night and the confused driver thought she was a stripper. He was even more confused when she mentioned her dad was in the same business. This will not happen much more. Happy Shappi will soon have her own chauffeur. 
Until Saturday, 020 7478 0100