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Cream Of Irish Arts Theatre Until Sat 18 March There's something not quite right about being seated in a theatre for a comedy show before the big hand's pointing at the twelve and the little one at the seven, especially when one of the recurring themes of the evening is drinking. But the Irish are back for another Fringe and they're a good way to get a night out started. Host Brendan Dempsey is right on the money. Quick moving and light-hearted, he involves the crowd from the get-go and branches off into his own passages with ease. He's travelled enough to have a good grasp of not only his Irishness, but how others perceive him and his countrymen. His exchange with a Scottish woman in the audience - she claiming she couldn't understand his accent - scored one of the biggest laughs of the night. Maeve Higgins had a harder time of it, but seemed on the brink of scoring some big belly laughs without it actually happening. Hers was a more cerebral style, her softly spoken delivery meaning those gathered had to work hard to hear everything she said; but when she dropped a punch line there was plenty of force behind it. Unfortunately this audience wasn't after subtlety and at this early hour Higgins - as good as she was - struggled for momentum. Ian Coppinger - all 5 foot 2 of him - opened with a barrage of one-liners and won the crowd over instantly, his assured manner almost encouraging a response. His initial onslaught was followed by a heartily embellished story of a flight from Sligo to Dublin, and it was the perfect way to end the evening. Entertaining and funny, it was a style of comedy rarely seen in this age of quick-bite comedians on television galas and panel-style shows. Coppinger worked it for every laugh he could and the audience was there every step of the way. A night of good craic all round, then.  |
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