Dara Ó Briain: Voice of Reason at the Royal Concert Hall Nottingham Review

Reviewed by Nigel Chester

Possibly the Best Dara Ó Briain tribute act I’ve seen. Since Ó Briain’s untimely death in a central Dublin ravine late last year there has been a dearth of quality Irish comics on the UK comedy scene. This of course is so-called ‘fake news’ and merely provides a taste of the evening’s entertainment.

Dara was playing to a packed house at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall and was on stage for over two hours with no supporting act and for the entire time had us in fits of laughter with his quick-fire delivery of his observations on life. A group of latecomers who, unfortunately for them, were seated at the front of the theatre became the source of further material throughout the night.

Dara took us on a journey from the snagging in his kitchen to the monasteries of Burton Upon Trent, all whilst finding the time to found Nottingham’s third football club, Nottingham City Football Club, to the derision of the audiences Nottingham Forest – Nott’s Country rivalry, just as long as you don’t use the “Millwall Find-a Fight App” apparently in development by an audience member. The evening was everything you’d expect of such a highly rated comedian, as an audience member you could tell that he was performing for the love of it, as he said, he doesn’t need to do this he’s got BBC money.

The performance was fun and well-paced and really gave an insight into Dara’s life, and tickets were a very reasonable £23 per person for a nicely sized theatre, seating around 2000, rather than a huge arena where one can often pay around £50 for a view where you know the act is over in that direction… maybe, the performance felt intimate and good value.

The Parisian scene provided on stage by the theatre, drew some scorn, only amplified when the chair provided turned out to be the hardest seat possible and the impossibly high coefficient of friction between the stage and the chair, or so claimed Dara.

A must see for all fans of comedy.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost £23 (booking fees may apply).4

Dara Ó Briain: Voice of Reason is at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham from1-2 June 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.trch.co.uk or call the box office on 0115 989 5555.

Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND | 0115 989 5555