Dara O'Briain at the Hammersmith Apollo

Dara O'Briain at the Hammersmith Apollo

19 September, 2010
by: Evolmike

Mike Stephenson reviews the TV comic's new tour.

It's difficult to tell you what to expect from Dara O'Briain, at least in terms of material. It's bound to be different every night. You know him from Mock the Week for his spirited gift of the gab, his ability to take any sordid or tangential comment and with a beaming grin turn it into the sort of broad, toasty mirth that wouldn't be out of place at the dinner table. This is what he does for the for first act, taking snippets of information from the audience and using them to paint colourful scenes and flapping caricatures of human tragicomedy.

There are two kinds of people who contribute to this jamboree. First are the folks who had the forward planning to get front row seats and the fortune (or misfortune) of getting picked on. They will relinquish their names, occupations and minor idiosyncrasies to the proceedings (and however banal they are, Dara manages to affably mock them without missing a beat.) They go on to become the anointed ambassadors to the rest of the audience.

Secondly are the loudest and most fervent punters lining the stalls. They come in when Dara asks his most tried and tested pub conversation starter questions, in this case including “Have you ever saved a life?” and “Have you ever had a dream about a celebrity?” The latter of which prompted a young lady to tell three thousand people at volume about when she dreamed of giving birth to a squirrel. Even Dara, who by now has heard it all, had to catch his breath after that one. Throughout the contributions, he regales us with the funniest and most bizarre answers he has so far heard. I wouldn't be surprised if the squirrel made it in.

Banter is clearly his greatest strength, hence it dominates the first half. After the interval we get the A material, and given how fast he speaks, we get a lot of it. Because of his lightning fast delivery he can describe repetitive and situational dilemmas without ever losing pace. Subjects include the reassuring nerd material of course, and the inevitable trials of ageing – fitness, child rearing, dissolution of of the media and so on. He's in a rare position to be able to speak for both the young and the old, the bright and the jaded. He tackles some challenging topics and isn't often all that challenging about them, but he doesn't need to be. Everything he says is carried on a cloud of accessible everyman wit. You could call him the Billy Connolly of his generation. For one thing, he's a lot bluer than you might expect, but it's water off a duck's back in that accent. (Quote of the night - “What the f*** are you saying with your face?” I think that's an everyday Irish phrase but hey, it's the way he tells them.)

He's one of the few comedians who gets a proper TV job and huge sell out audiences and actually deserves them. That special combination of smart and likeable. And he'll only get funnier as he gets older. Probably.

Dara O'Briain is at the Hammersmith Apollo until Saturday 25th September.

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Evolmike