Smug busting Briain

You never know what you’re going to get when you plunge into the cultural pick and mix that is the average Hay audience, but you’ll normally be party to some surreal blathering or other that is well worth the ticket price alone. Tonight’s Radio 4 listener, sat directly behind me, was busy telling her long suffering friends that as a rule she didn’t like stand-up, however she does believe Sandi Toksvig is a natural comedian. Turning her attention to tonight’s act her, pre-show verdict was that “he’s very Irish, but very funny” as if the two don’t normally sit well together; and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with her… at least about O’Briain.

The freedom of the stage combined with harsh lighting transformed O’Briain from the cuddly host of Mock the Week into an almost demonic looking redneck Celt. Machine gunning through the performance with a professional mania the excitable Irishman rattled from one story to another as if unable to stop even if he wanted to. Late in the gig he checked his watch and, realising he was now clashing with Reg. D. Hunter’s gig across site, promised to finish soon before effortlessly ploughing on for a further 20 minutes.

It is clear from watching him on stage exactly why he has enjoyed such televisual success in recent years, but it is also comedian’s curse – on more than one occasion I was familiar with his material. Even then O’Briain’s stage technique gave it a fresh quality.

Henry Widdicombe www.suchsmallportions.com