I see Pam Ann got a, how shall we put it, mixed review in the Guardian this week. Brian Logan gave the show at the Leicester Square Theatre two stars and called it "the comedy of casual smut and insult". Other major critics seem to have stayed away and maybe dodged a bullet. I didn't review it for the Evening Standard – I put it on the list but there was no space to run a review.

Which was, in a way, something of a relief. I’ve been seeing Pam Ann, alias Caroline Reid, for over a decade now and the only gig I’ve really enjoyed was the first one. It was 13 years ago to be precise – I remember the date because it was just before 9/11 and I did wonder how a character based on a bitchy, embittered trolley dolly would deal with that. After that first gig however the shock of seeing her pulling punters out of the audience and inflicting embarrassment on them started to diminish.

Pam and I have a bit of history. There was one year when she was at the Soho Theatre when we did have space for a review but when I asked for press tickets they were reluctant to give me any, responding with words to the effect of, “she is only gonna get a bad review anyway”. And when I posted her latest tour dates on Twitter I got a playful reply for Pam herself saying something on the lines of “looking forward to the next review…”

So how do you review a show that – not that I ever make up my mind in advance, of course – you have an inkling that you may not totally enjoy. It’s not easy. There’s another comedian – no names, no pack drill – who I invariably give a grudging three stars to while others acclaim him as a genius. Last year his agent bumped into me at an airport and commented on the fact that I’d never liked his client. There was no answer to that except to say that maybe one day I will see him and change my mind. My opinions are definitely not set in stone. This comedian is a lovely bloke offstage, he just doesn’t do it for me onstage. The good news for the comedy world – and I can hear you all breathing a sigh of relief out there – is that there are very few acts that I have a difficulty with. I like lots of acts. Just some more than others.

There are, of course the old school comedians who have a large following but I’m not one of their fan club. Comedians such as Chubby Brown. I am, as I say, prepared to be won over. It will be interesting to see what the mostly left-of-centre critics make of Jim Davidson, who has just announced that he is doing a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe. I’ve got a pretty open mind on JD. I have seen him do stand-up before, but it was a very long time ago and he certainly has plenty of new things to talk about onstage. 

Does a critic have a duty to review every show that there is space for, or can a polite silence speak volumes? Pam Ann is clearly not pitching herself at high-brow broadsheet critics – she knows her fanbase and she shamelessly panders to them. So maybe the scribes are right to take a night off. Maybe it’s a critic-proof show, or at least a show that is so full-on it can never be reviewed objectively. Anyway, Pam Ann is at the Leicester Square Theatre until April 26 and she seems to be selling tickets without the witterings of little old me. If you want to buy a ticket and make up your own mind here’s a ticket link.