David O'Doherty: The Boy Who Saved Comedy
Note: This review is from 2000
Review by Steve Bennett
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