A QUICK glance around the auditorium, packed full of middle Englanders with their chinos and sensible shoes, and you know that their radio dial is glued to the Archers.

Nothing wrong with that, or the surety that The Now Show is one of the best long-running satirical comedy programmes on the radio. After all, the show’s frontmen, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, have 20 years’ experience in the business, with their suitably miffed, cynical observational humour.

But if you are looking for their latest comedy tour to add a new visual dimension, or some added innovative comic brilliance, then you’ll come away disappointed.

You see, what their publicity doesn’t tell you is that this show is actually Radio 4 for theatre. There’s no set, just four tacky Greek podiums and a fake fireplace. The upside is that it will look good in the tiny Georgian Theatre, in Richmond.

Punt and Dennis are an unlikely duo, a combination of overgrown student and car salesman, but I did agree whole-heartedly with Dennis when he said: “The entire country is being run by a double act, and we thought we’d be better than them.” His suggestion that Colin Firth is rumoured to be booked to speak at Prince William’s wedding was cleverly topical.

Dennis definitely upstages Punt’s waffling patter with his Power Point style of comedy, and his velociraptor impression was very funny – well at least it was the first time.

This is not cutting-edge comedy, more wooden spoon political satire. To be fair, the audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Me? Well...

I listen to Radio 2.

Helen Brown * Tomorrow: Richmond Georgian Theatre Royal (01748-825252); Feb 17: Middlesbrough Theatre (01642-815181); Mar 5 and 6: Newcastle Journal Tyne Theatre (0844-493-9999).