Ready, Stead, David O’Doherty – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review

READY, STEADY, DAVID O’DOHERTY – 17-21 September

David O’Doherty starts off his Dublin Fringe Show in what is now traditional fashion. First slagging off the Fringe Festival’s motto of ‘taking over the city’ and then the slightly industrial feel of the Project Arts Centre. He talks of feeling in awe while playing at the Gaiety Theatre where Laurel & Hardy once performed. He feels more at home in the smaller spaces! He’s come to terms with the fact he’ll never headline the 3Arena or sell out Vicar Street for an 80-night run. Instead, we get his own brand of quirky humour, all performed in a hat with a tiny keyboard on his lap!

An audience member from the night before gets a mention. David told a mildly irreverent joke about Jesus, at which point an audience member left the theatre, telling David ‘Hail Jesus’ (possibly ‘My Jesus’) as he walked out! There are mentions of other hecklers, the most cutting being a six-year-old child on one of his book tours who asked him ‘when will this get good’ in a very polite fashion. People seem to go out of their way to tell him they don’t like his comedy!

There was the story of his near brush with death, as he was almost knocked off his bike by the Ghost Bus Tour. He expanded on it, telling of how he would haunt the bus from then on, shouting abuse at the driver and claiming he had whiplash!

The main focus of the show is on his parents, and we hear about Jim and Anne. Jim was a ‘jazzer’, a professional jazz musician who wrote the theme song to the Children’s TV show ‘Wonderly Wagon’. His Mum represented Ireland in Tennis and Hockey. It seems somewhat incongruous that David could be their child, but I guess he does perform with a keyboard on his lap. If you’re thinking of going to the gig, the Saturday Matinee is the one that shouldn’t be missed as he promises his parents will be sitting in the front row! It could all kick off…

A gig with David O’Doherty is like checking in with an eccentric friend. He’s the butt of the vast majority of his jokes, as he focuses on his lack of fame and fortune. As I left the Project Arts Centre with a smile on my face and walked up Parliament Street, I saw the Ghost Bus whizz past. My only thought was what we could have lost…