The DOD is the lo fi guy. Performing this year at the Hi Fi Bar David O’Doherty appeared in front of an appreciative, first night, sell out audience.
Its two years since I’ve seen a full length David O’Doherty show and a major difference between then and now is the ratio of stand up to song. Unlike previous performances which have been littered with tunes, this show included just four musical numbers, top and tailing, and punctuating a third in and a third out of the show. This allowed the DOD an opportunity to expand his stand up into three long brackets. At the moment these sections are lacking a little polish, rendering them merely great, rather than his usual standard of superb. Also, the delicious aspect of watching him perform music alongside stand up is the lack of delineation between the two. His songs are conversations within songs and his conversation is song within conversation.
Again, unlike two years ago, David only once indulged in his peculiar habit of inexplicably climbing up to stand atop his chair, mid routine. It may have been first night nerves that keep the DOD so firmly on the ground, and, although not a criteria for critiquing comedy, it would be a deep shame to see David lose his compunction to spontaneously climb.
Much of David O’Doherty’s material skews observational comedy with sheer joy and delight. This show is a celebration of baby pandas, electric toothbrushes which sound like crocodiles and the freedom to stand in your pants brushing your hair with an oversized comedy comb. His most topical material includes a monologue about fantasy films and, just when I thought I would never again hear original material about email spam, he throws the audience original material about email spam.
I’m pleased to add that DOD considers the practice of ranking comedy via the star system as ridiculous (just as we do here at The Groggy Squirrel). As he says, “stars are celestial and infinite, not out of five”. This is an apt parallel to the process of critiquing a performance by the DOD. There’s no point trying to tie him down. David O’Doherty is sweetly ephemeral, always funny and as delightful and unpredictable as a baby panda.
Visit the comedy festival website for bookings and further details