After a short video intro (which was difficult to hear due to an unruly audience who seemed not to be paying attention to the fact that the show was starting) Paddy McCullagh hits the stage in this genial and likeable show.
The title, R U Smarter Than An Irishman?, is self evident and explains the premise upon which Paddy has hung this show. He makes the show into a competition between the audience and himself, with an onstage blackboard scoring tally. This aspect of the show proved popular and engaging, with members of the audience vocally campaigning for audience points and, on occasion, taking it upon themselves to get up and adjust the scoring manually, all conducted in a ‘good audience involvement way’ rather than an ‘unwelcome heckling way’.
This show is heavily reliant on magic or tricks. Whilst entertaining and pleasant this is still a magic show pretending to be comedy, and it can’t help but make the show appear a little lazy comedy wise. That said I did enjoy the chicanery of the show and Paddy’s masterful command of blarney. But I can’t really say more than “enjoy”. I didn’t find it funny as such, and it didn’t make me actually laugh, therein being the problem with one art form (magic) posing as another (comedy).
Paddy provides a continued interjection of banter between and amongst his trickery hijinks. In amongst this is the constant threat to start up a tune on the banjo or engage in a long promised chess game. Whilst funny at first, Paddy doesn’t quite have the comedic skill to maintain the tension or allure of these gags. Furthermore the resolution of these gags lack coherent consistency. The chess game never finds any completion whilst it’s difficult to understand the inclusion of the end of the banjo bit, which is a song which is badly performed and largely incoherent. This show is deliberately shambolic, being all about the blarney, but unfortunately this comes off as being more disjointed than artful.
Ultimately though, this show is more about amusing showmanship than comedy per se. It’s a fun and merry show. If you’re looking for jokes and routines you won’t find them here, but it is a rollicking show and it’s hard not to lap up the charm.
For full booking details check out the Comedy Festival website