David O'Doherty: The Boy Who Saved Comedy
Note: This review is from 2000
Remember Jackanory?
David O'Doherty clearly does, and he's recreated the experience in this whimsical show.
This amiable young Irish comic is obviously a gifted storyteller, and this tale of a lad's quest for childish gags is mostly well-delivered.
However the simple material is much more suited to a family audience than the adult crowd it's attracting, and laughs are far too infrequent for a comedy show.
O'Doherty also has a tendency to milk his jokes too much. Far too often he returns to the unamusing idea that he has ended up in a small-scale one-man show rather than the Lloyd-Webber musical extravaganza he was hoping for, and a misjudged attempt to persuade an unwilling audience to take some non-speaking roles was a definite non-starter.
This is a show that has been badly marketed, and consequently fails in comparison to most other comedy shows it is being categorised with.
Review date: 1 Jan 2000
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett