Surfing on a wave of adulation

Still collared by his televisual antics, which never harms the size of his audience, the stand-up within Ardal O'Hanlon always needs to readjust the vertical and horizontal in order to convince that, yes, he can do this comedy lark off his own bat and, yes, he is quite accomplished at it.

Surfing on the wave of audience adulation, he begins with some canny vernacular material which sets the tone for the evening; whether he's talking about his native Monaghan, or places and situations further afield, the observations are wry, the phrasing loquacious and the humour sleek.

While there is an element of cut-and-paste to some of the material, he enforces his persona on to the subject matter with all the relish of a man who has found a new angle to an old topic. Either indignant or perplexed, he puts a fresh spin on the prosaic, and he manages to tease out nuances where none are readily apparent.

The tone switches from bemusement to something verging on anger, and while the former may be audience-friendly, the latter is a rich seam of sardonic possibilities which has yet to be fully mined.

There's room to roam.

The Murphy's Ungagged Comedy Festival continues until next Sunday. Booking: 01-4569569