
David O'Doherty
He shot to fame at Edinburgh in 1999 when he won So You Think You're Funny and in 2003 was named Hot Press Irish Comedian Of The Year
He shot to fame at Edinburgh in 1999 when he won So You Think You're Funny and in 2003 was named Hot Press Irish Comedian Of The Year
Edinburgh Fringe review by Paul Fleckney
Ahh, that’s better. The world is going to hell in a handcart and if only there were more David O’Dohertys to make everything all right. His attitude isn’t to be apolitical, to bury his head in the sand, he wants to go right up to the madness and laugh in its face.
Thankfully, we can all have a go at this, because O’Doherty is on sensational form in You Have To Laugh. It is more of the same low-key songs and stand-up, of course – he isn’t going to change tack now – but worldly-wise O’Doherty feels like a more substantial offering than the twee O’Doherty of yore. Perhaps the best example of this is the conversation he has with his 18-year-old self, gradually disappointing himself with each revelation about how his adult life is going.
There is still a streak of child-like innocence to the way O’Doherty thinks, even if it’s applied to grown-up subjects like evolution and technology. In one delicious routine he admits he is curious about how things work, whether it’s the mic lead onstage or relativity, but can’t bear to listen to the answers, the detail, it’s all too much.
In fact, O’Doherty is an astute observer on the subject of technology and how it’s embedded in our existence. His stories of how life is both better and worse now for tech, and his night out without his phone, suggest a nuanced take: don’t be a slave to it, but Luddism is also for losers.
He shows his knack for one-liners, with a couple of pearls that sum up Brexit and what it’s like trying to deal with Irish politics. And he sets a high bar for his storytelling with a beauty near the start about trying to cash in a sock-full of English coins by going to a change machine in the border town of Newry.
By comparison, his other stories – the inconsiderate motorbike owner and the reason for the low water pressure in his house – don’t hit the same heights but they’d be the best bits of most people’s shows.
If you boil these stories down, one is born of vengeful disgust the other is kind of gruesome – it just shows how important tone is: O’Doherty’s carefree positivity means he can sell you almost anything as a comic. On a similar note, there’s a bit of observational comedy that’s almost certainly been done before, about old cameras with their fiddly films, but it doesn’t feel corny in the slightest in his hands.
Come the end, he lets it all out, the retreat of democracy, the anxiety of change, and how the transformation society is going through right now, driven by technological advance, isn’t like the change that’s happened in the past. As the light above him gradually dims, he returns to the same conclusion: that laughter really is the best medicine. And this show is a great big spoonful of the stuff.
Published: 13 Aug 2018
David O'Doherty at Latitude 2018
David O’Doherty suffered a little from being…
16/07/2018
David O'Doherty at Latitude 2016
David O’Doherty’s been starting his tour dates…
18/07/2016
David O'Doherty: We Are All in the Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking at David O'Doherty
He always used to bill himself as ‘very low-energy…
15/04/2016
Sketch trio Sheeps must have been good boys this year,…
18/12/2012
Pecha Kucha is a way of speeding up presentations,…
6/06/2012
Cat Laughs, Kilkenny: 2012 round-up
The recession is certainly taking its toll on Kilkenny.…
5/06/2012
David O’Doherty: Rory Sheridan
The Fringe is the place to try something different,…
21/08/2011
Montreal Just For Laughs 2011: One-Stop World Tour
Seems like the Just For Laughs Festival is closing…
28/07/2011
Somewhere Over the David O’Doherty
This was a very special show tonight. It’s probably…
21/08/2010
Carlsberg Comedy Carnival: Bo Burnham, David O'Doherty
With local lad David O’Doherty and teenage American…
25/07/2010
David O'Doherty at Latitude 2010
‘My name is Florence and this is my machine,’ David…
25/07/2010
David O'Doherty: David O' Doh-party - Fringe 2009
After winning the if.comedy award last year, David…
25/08/2009
Carlsberg Comedy Carnival 2009, Day 4
The final day of the carnival began for me with one…
27/07/2009
Carlsberg Comedy Carnival 2009, Day 3
Day three brought 16 comics in four shows over nine…
26/07/2009
Carlsberg Comedy Carnival 2009, Day 2
Day two began with cancellations as Jason Manford stayed…
25/07/2009
Carlsberg Comedy Carnival 2009, Day 1
Only in Ireland could a comedy festival open on the…
24/07/2009
This deliciously dark farce, set in a grimy Dublin…
1/01/2009
You can see why David O’Doherty might appeal to children:…
1/01/2009
Despite its status as one of the world’s most prestigious…
1/01/2008
Saturday Night Live star Jimmy Fallon got his gala…
1/01/2008
David O’Doherty may have been if.comedy-nominated,…
1/01/2008
If you were looking for a theme to unite most of the…
1/01/2008
David O'Doherty – Original Review
David O’Doherty pretty much writes his own review,…
1/10/2007
Brighton Comedy Festival: Best Of The Fest
For proof, should you need it, that the geeks have…
1/01/2007
Make no mistake. Hosting a televised Just For Laughs…
1/01/2006
What's this? A change to David O'Doherty's Very Low…
1/01/2006
Having now become a regular fixture at the Fringe,…
1/01/2006
David O\'Doherty in World Champion of Some Things
David O'Doherty has made a major change in the direction…
1/01/2006
David O\'Doherty Creates Something New Under The Su
This is a pretty ambitious title for a Fringe show,…
1/01/2006
David O\'Doherty: Small Things
This droll keyboard-playing comedian - and undefeated…
1/01/2006
Book (2015)
Danger Is Still Everywhere by David O'Doherty
DVD (2014)
Alternative Comedy Experience Series 2
DVD (2013)
Alternative Comedy Experience
Book (2011)
100 Facts About Sharks
David O'Doherty Presents 403 Second Masterworks
David O'Doherty: Seize The David O'Doherty
David O’Doherty: We Are All in the Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking at David O'Doherty
UK: Chambers Management
020 7796 3588
Ireland: Lisa Richards Agency
flee@lisarichards.ie
We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.
Comments