You simply don’t expect a ventriloquist to be as funny as Conti. But her side-splitting appearances on Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC 3) and Live at the Apollo (BBC1) prove that this richly intelligent, technically perfect and utterly engaging performer – a sort of ‘alternative vent’ – is a master at subverting expectations and re-inventing her genre. Conti has a fascination for exploring the split psyche of the ventriloquist and sharing it with the audience. Exuberant and playful, she’s not afraid of the dark side. In theory, love, life and death are on the menu when the BAFTA nominated filmmaker . . .