FRANK KELLY, previously best known for his version of the Twelve Days of Christmas, has been given a new lease of life by his role in Father Ted. As Father Jack, the detergent swilling priest, he has coined one of every drunk's favourite catchphrases - "Feck! Drink! Girls!" - and reached cult status.
Although Kelly's new show is certainly cashing in on the popularity of the series, there is little of Father Jack in evidence and certainly little of the off beat humour which characterises that show. The night spent in the company of Frank Kelly was more reminiscent of an evening at the music halls than on the cutting edge of comedy.
Mild and smutty jokes about nuns and culchies are interspersed with musical numbers, some sung very competently by Mr Kelly, some performed slightly less competently on violin. We were encouraged to sing along to the one about drinking to excess which boasted as its chorus the infamous "Feck! Drink! Girls!" Any mention or reference to Father Ted was treated to a round of applause, as was the slightly off season Twelve Days of Christmas.
Kelly's routine itself is comprised of anecdotes and rather tired jokes that have seen the light of day a little too often. The humour tends to rest in the sheer likeable nature of Frank Kelly himself rather than in any great wit. A slightly less endearing trait is his tendency to preface a distinctly un PC gag with a patronising disclaimer, as in "Ash no, the travelling community get a very bad press, but..."
Humour, like everything else, has fast changing fashions, and Frank Kelly is perhaps best described as a comfortable chintz sofa of the old school.