Review by Steve Bennett

The publicity blurb for Irishman Burke's one-man show says: "He doesn't have to try. He was born with funny in him."

And that's exactly Burke's problem. He just doesn't try.

This show, which ran about ten minutes short of its allotted hour, could have great potential.

Working in Iraq at the height of the Gulf War should have been a great source of material.

Yet Burke's act revolves around such lazy ideas as 'foreigners, aren't they funny', 'us Irish drink a lot' and 'men and women ­ they're different, don't you know'.

While he's an engaging enough storyteller, he just doesn't have any stories to tell.

His life in Baghdad seemed to go no further than the Irish pub and a nightclub for westerners. This might as well have been called One Night In Ballina for all the insight we got into Iraqi life.

A wasted opportunity.

Review date: 1 Jan 2000
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett