There’s barely a man or woman in the UK who can’t be aware of Dara O’Briain, the genial Irish host of Mock the Week whose success has seen him popping up on daytime TV shows from time to time.
While his style isn’t to everyone’s liking, he has had immense success over the past few years with his tours attracting larger and larger audiences of people wanting to see more of his pretty individual blend of straightforward observational comedy blended with the kind of surrealism usually identified with Paul Merton or Eddie Izzard. That O’Briain manages to fit these flights of fantasy into a bit of question asking on Mock the Week is impressive at the best of times, as is the fact that so many people have been following the question master who so often lives in the shadow of Hugh Dennis, Andy Parsons and Russell Howard, not to mention guest panellists like Stewart Francis and Milton Jones.
This DVD comes from Dara’s 2010 tour, and features the level of quality you would expect from Dara; there seems to be an increasing number of stand-ups all from around the same 30-40 age group who are absolutely determined that their DVDs look like movies. I’m not sure who started the trend – and HD and Blu-ray has obviously played a part – but the visual quality of this recording is superb.
Aided by a great audience at the Hammersmith Apollo, Dara launches into a selection of superb mini routines that are expertly punctuated by interaction between the comedian and his audience. This ranges from the standard “what do you do?” to explaining to a couple of school boys (who he catches illegally recording the show!) about certain elements of pregnancy that they may not be aware of, or indeed, wish to know.
I’m not going to list any of his gags here, but look out for “Dr Bear” as well as Dara’s brilliant reading of the movie 2012.
All of this is delivered with O’Briain’s trademark everyman “approachableness” and he really does seem to have a gift for engaging with his audience in a way that other comics do not. It’s a part of his act that seems to get him out of pretty much any sticky situation and to be honest he could probably get through an entire tour without writing any gags (let’s face it, he wouldn’t be the first) and get plenty of laughs from just chatting with the front five rows.
On the DVD
You’ll find the main feature split into 13 chapters on the disc, expertly sectioned to bring you into the action as a new portion of the act begins. In terms of extras, the disc includes material from the Vicar Street venue in Dublin, camera phone footage courtesy of one of the young audience members, a performance from the Hammersmith Apollo by Richard Hills on the venues unique 1932 Compton “pipe organ in a trapdoor” as well as the obligatory commentary which features Ed Byrne.
Fans of Dara will snap this up, but if you’ve only come across him via Mock the Week and like the cut of his jib, this is one to buy.
You can snap up Dara O Briain – This Is the Show from Amazon for just £10.99
