David O'Doherty - Comedy Festival review

David O'Doherty - Comedy Festival review

It’s the first time in four years that Irish comedian David O’Doherty’s played a full show in Auckland – and to say the crowd is excited is massive understatement.

With gaffer tape spelling out his initials on the stage curtain, there was a decidedly lo-fi feel to the evening – but great expectations.

As the lights went down, a prolonged intro voiceover set the tone for the night – slightly rambling, utterly ludicrous and totally hilarious. 

Espousing such phrases as “Carpe D O’Diem” this Irish comedian is onto it from the moment it all kicks off.

He has a very simple plea as he plays the last date on his 3 month tour: “I hope you like it, that’s all”.

And by golly, David, we absolutely adored it.

Due to play only an hour and ending up nearing two hours, O’Doherty has a warmth of personality mixed in with a large dollop of insanity and some great story telling as he recounts how the show rose from the ashes of a doomed relationship.

Throw in some musical numbers on a very small keyboard, some pacing around the stage and some frankly hilarious observations and really, you’ve got one of the top shows of the festival.

His show takes in getting older, tackling fears, nostalgia, some terrifying visuals about how he copes with a break up (hint it involves video games, pants and pizza in a room with curtains drawn) and reaching outlandish conclusions about the very simple things in life.

O’Doherty has a quirkiness which renders him totally affable and a humility which is utterly engaging; he’s also got some of the smartest song lyrics I’ve heard this year which have a poignancy as well as an absurdly killer punchline. One section sees him dispensing tips for satisfying your lady and it’s at this point, everyone is in fits of laughter – such is O’Doherty’s hit rate you can’t help but lose your lunch laughing.

After realising, he’s gone a bit long, he cries that “From now on, it’s all killer, no filler” before telling us “Watch out, New Zealand, you’re about to get it in the North Island” and then finishes with a superbly brilliant rendition of his complaints song “My Beefs”.

A brief encore sees him back and when it ends, there really is the feeling he could have gone on all night. O’Doherty is a master craftsman, a raucous raconteur, a wordsmith of whimsy and a showman of utter style.

Please don’t leave it four years to come back again.

Watch David O'Doherty playing My Beefs 2011 here..