CRITICS have called her "perky, twinkly, with the smile of a pixie but the mouth of a docker" a description comedienne Lucy Porter, who's in Burnley on March 3, delights in.

"When I walk on stage people think she looks quite sweet'. Sometimes I play to type, sometimes I'm really filthy and swear to upset people's expectations," she laughed.

Critics at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival fell over themselves to praise her, calling her a "one woman phenomenon" and handing her an award for best stand-up.

Her new comedy show for Radio 2, The Powder Room, alongside Julia Morris and Gina Yashere, is airing in April and is another step in the direction towards being the next big thing.

At the moment she's touring the UK with the show "Happiness", calling at Burnley Mechanics on March 3.

Although she has been making people laugh for 11 years, she says she's only been taking her stand-up seriously for the last five or six. It all started after she worked with Caroline Aherne as a researcher on the Mrs Merton Show.

"I was quite influenced by Caroline. She told me I should give it a go."

As well as stand-up, Lucy has turned her hand to theatre, starring in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest with Christian Slater and Mackenzie Crook, has written for Johnny Vaughan, Davina McCall and Jimmy Tarbuck, and regularly appears as a panellist on TV comedy shows.

"I'd say my act is 60/40 unwritten," she said. "That's what's fun for me. The audience might as well watch a DVD if you're going to run through the same old jokes every time."

Lucy Porter is at the Mechanics in Burnley on March 3.