Dara O?Briain is the host of BBC comedy-news quiz Have I Got News for You Mock the Week, the show that brought the comedy stylings of, (Proclaimers look alike) Frankie Boyle and (Baby P lookalike) Russell Howard into our living rooms. His latest live show has seen him tour the UK and Ireland extensively in an attempt to prove that he's just as funny as the others.
The night starts off with O?Briain saying there will be no Papal jokes as it's just too obvious for a comedian to attack a former Nazi who is now the King of the Catholics, a church that seems almost dedicated to out nonce-ing Michael Jackson (although as yet there is no Catholic version of Bubbles, but give it some time).
The gigantic Irishman was on top form, telling Billy Connolly-esque stories and building up a good rapport with the audience during the obligatory ask the audience segment.
The second half was more full on, complete with rants that would make Hecklerspray writers blush and longer, more concise stories that had disgusting twists that would either have the audience in stitches or have them literally recoiling in a bizarre mixture of horror and disgust that is usually reserved for those unlucky enough to see the human whale, Kerry Katona, in the buff.
O?Briain is a much cleverer comic than Boyle and Howard, shying away from the shock humour and knob gags in favour of jokes that have a rhythm and nerd humour, a prime example of this is Dara?s rant about computer games, in which he went to great lengths to act out many of the problems you encounter when playing 3rd person stealth based games such as Metal Gear Solid.
As a Hecklerspray writer I tend to lap up humiliation and anger based comedy, I find it's the best metaphor for my sex life, but Dara O?Briain?s live show was exceptionally funny and remained consistent throughout the entire performance.
He's still touring, so if you get a chance I highly recommend seeing him before he goes back to being the ugly one from Mock the Week.