Des Bishop – Tongues - Vicar St. 15/09/2007

Having seen Des Bishop twice before I was both, looking forward to seeing him again; and hoping I wasn’t going to get the same routine.

Des began in a fairly workman-like fashion as is often the case with stand-ups who have a long slot to fill. He relied on some angry shouting to fill the comedy void at first before utilising a comedian’s “sure thing” in the form of a masturbation gag. Disappointingly he also reverted to a reprise of his favourite role, that of the Dublin heroin junkie, which (although he always pulls it off to humorous effect) I was rather hoping he’d moved on from.

Things were immediately dragged up to his usually high standard when he began the real topics of the show. First up was that of the Irish language which Des informed us he’d been learning for the past year. He played upon the hatred for the language instilled in the audience through 14 years of the education system, striking many a chord with our own experiences and prejudices.

His observations were spot-on as he skilfully poked fun at, but never quite detracted from, the quirky and often illogical nature of the beast. It was very much a case of preaching to the converted and the audience lapped it up (unless they were like one of my companions who happened to be educated abroad!)

The second part was a much longer and more cynical look at religion and specifically the catholic church. Having begun with a disclaimer explaining how he didn’t intend to offend, he oddly started with some very cheap shots of a very base level (calling a priest a paedophile isn’t exactly pushing the boundaries of modern comedy).

As with the first half though, he developed a more considered approach and the crux of the routine was far more satisfying. The climax of which, an analogy between an evangelical preacher’s seminar and a dj conducting a rave, was truly insightful.

The show petered out from there with some amusing auto-biographical tales which brought the performance to a more than acceptable end.

I think it would be fair to say that Des Bishop is more of a teller of funny stories than a genuinely funny man (as was shown with his treatment of a heckler where he lacked the fast witted nature to cope on his feet). His new material was meticulously arranged and rehearsed and it was this that contained the best moments of his performance and proves him, again, to be one of the best current stand ups.