Immaculate content delivered with furious enthusiasm
David O’Doherty used to work in a German sausage factory. This might sound like a crass comedy set-up, but it is in fact true. His role was to drive a giant Hoover designed to suck up the smashed, sausage-filled jars that tumbled off the conveyer belts. There are no double entendres in this hilarious section of his 2011 show, just a man talking about the mechanics of sausage suction.
Such is the low-key brilliance of the Irishman’s work. Without having to grope around for any jokes he has the crowd happily giggling from start to finish with a stream of songs, anecdotes and observations delivered in his trademark incredulous monotone.
There’s an almost unstoppable momentum to the performance. O’Doherty looks like a comedy athlete – a superhero even in his blue and gold cape. He’s slim (the result of a bacterial infection he helpfully lets us know), and loud – he near-shouts his set with the vehemence of a motivational speaker. The only pause comes when his bottle of fizzy water tips over, threatening to drown one of his beloved tiny keyboards, and offering the opportunity to reference deglaciation and paternoster lakes.
It would, perhaps, be nice to hear some more of these super smart, off-the-cuff asides, but O’Doherty can’t wait to get back into the flow of his (admittedly excellent) material. The practised pace of his winning song-digression-song formula is mesmerising. It’s a packed hour, as accomplished as you’ll find anywhere this Fringe.
David O’Doherty is Looking Up, Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug, 7.20pm, £14-£15 (£12-£13)
David O’Doherty’s endearing Irish charm and quick wit make for a very entertaining hour of standup, interspersed with song. He begins by inviting the audience to be voyeurs at his private party for one and they gladly accept.
In his own words, he is a veteran of many Recessii and here, he offers some tips for personal and countrywide survival in the current one.
He is a man with many complaints about life including being regularly mistaken for Chris O’Dowd from the IT Crowd. It is not hard to imagine why, he has a similar accent, looks a lot like him, from a distance at least and is also a comedian, although to his mind the only similarity is that they share part of their name; ‘O’D.’
Moonlighting as a naturalist and author, O’Doherty also previews his latest literary work, “100 Facts about Sharks”. His previous book, “100 Facts about Pandas,” allegedly made it into the natural history section of a well known bookstore, in spite of not being entirely based on real facts about pandas.
The only thing missing in his expanding repertoire is interpretive dance, which would certainly be worth the 5th star alone!
There is an and innocent silliness to David O’Doherty’s unique style of comedy. His stories usually reflect things that could easily happen to anyone and are effortless in the telling. He attracts a cult following, but his material is accessible by all. He easily sells out one of the larger venues of the Fringe and it is likely that his popularity will continue. He remarked that since he was in the same venue as last year that his career had either plateaued or he was on a pedestal. I think the audience would agree that for now at least, ‘pedestal’ is appropriate.
Irish purveyor of lo-fi music and playful laughs David O’Doherty constantly finds himself having to correct people who, upon discovering what he does for a living, mistake him for Bridesmaids star Chris O’Dowd. But in the context of the Fringe, the cap-wearing 35-year-old Dubliner in the gold cape is a sell-out sensation who can barely put a little toe wrong.
If this show seems to feature quite a lot of recycled material, it can be excused by the unfortunate run of ill health O’Doherty has endured over the last few months, worst of which was a several-week-long spell spent barely off or over (sometimes both at once) the toilet with a bacterial stomach infection.
No matter – it’s little cause for complaint to hear repeat airings of the brilliant ‘Party at My House’, or angry diatribe ‘My Beefs’, a list of gripes updated for 2011 to target adverts for Boots’ summer cosmetic range and Travelodge, whose logo O’Doherty reckons should be more accurately changed to a lonely businessman masturbating.
A slide show featuring excerpts from his forthcoming book 100 Facts About Sharks is a feast of childlike, wide-eyed weirdness, while his half-hour closing spiel taking in everything from working as a spilled-sausages cleaner in a Cologne supermarket to being mugged by, then befriending, Spanish terrorists is a masterpiece of freewheeling whimsy. Don’t come to his show expecting belly-laughs galore – just a non-stop feel-good glow courtesy of one of the most loveable and natural funny men in the business.
David O’Doherty is Looking Up
EdCom Productions 