The thought of standing up to speak in front of hundreds of people is enough to bring some out in a cold sweat.

Trying to make the whole crowd laugh on top of that will have them running for the hills.

But not Samantha Baines, the comedian and actress who reached the final 10 of the Funny Women Awards, the national competition which has helped boost the careers of other hilarious ladies such as Sarah Millican and Zoe Lyons in the past.

The 27-year-old, of Goswell Road, Finsbury, said: “I quite enjoy the nerves because they make me perform better because I care. I was definitely very nervous for Funny Women, it’s not the biggest crowd I have performed to but it’s definitely the biggest audience I have had for stand-up.” Last week Samantha took to the stage at the Leicester Square Theatre in front of 400 people to give it her best shot at making the room laugh - and she did exactly that.

She said: “Sadly, I didn’t win but it was such a high performing to all those people and have them laugh back. It was really great and I had my family there to support me and I just want to gig to 400 people again or the O2 Arena because that’s the natural next step.”

Having studied a drama degree and then training at the Central School for Speech and Drama, Samantha was always going to be a performer.

After graduating, she was getting roles as either crying women or funny friends and she decided to focus on the latter.

After showing off her comedic prowess in BBC3’s Lee Nelson’s Well Funny People and Hank Zipzer on CBBC, friends encouraged Samantha to give stand-up comedy a go.

‘Scary’

“My first gig went brilliantly and I thought, ‘wow, I’m a natural at this’, but it was all my friends and family so my second gig was harder than I thought it would be,” she said.

“I’m fairly new to stand up but I do have all my performing experience but it’s still scary sometimes.” At the end of the month Samantha and her friend, Helen Sorren, fellow Funny Women competitor, will be presenting their weekly Saturday morning show on Hoxton Radio which will include a funny round up of the week’s news and interviews with interesting women.

“One of our guests is going to be a lady who works for the Royal Navy and hunts pirates for a living,” she said. “It’s going to be quite a ladies’ show as we just want to talk to interesting and funny women.”

Next up Samantha will popping up on our screens at home in the CBBC show So Awkward and hitting the silver screen alongside Emily Watson and Rupert Everett in a Lionsgate feature film Girls Night Out while her radio show, The Sam and Helen Show: Ladies what Brunch, will air on October 24.