COMEDY: IT’S DAVID O’DOHERTY TIME

PREVIEW BY AMELIA GROOM

Off beat, engaging, witty and hilarious, Irish comedian David O’Doherty is performing in Sydney for the first time. Bringing a couple of little keyboards with him, he will be delivering his unique whimsical song-comedy to eagre fans at the Factory Theatre for three nights only.

I asked David how he came to stand-up comedy, and he told me he initially wanted to be a musician. ‘My father was a piano player and I wanted to follow that path,’ he said, ‘but, you know, when you’re 18 or 19 you realise you’re never going to be good enough ‘ Actually, it was my father who told me you can’t polish a turd ‘ which was good of him ‘ and so I gave that up.’

Next he pursued writing, and had a series of children’s books published. ‘After my children’s books I started to do readings for kids in libraries, and it’s not a far jump from there to stand-up comedy.’

‘I used to carry around bigger instruments but the little keyboards I use now only cost ten dollars on eBay, which is great: they fit in suitcases, and you don’t have to pay for excess luggage,’ he says, ‘and they’re so cheap, it doesn’t matter if you smash them.’

What can we expect from his current show, It’s David O’doherty Time‘ ‘I try to say things that are vaguely profound but really stupid: that’s what I think comedy is about,’ he says, ‘I also like to talk about failure.’

‘It’s partly based on how I beat death: the time I got away from a shark that wasn’t a shark. That’s all I’ll say about that. There’s also a lot about my relationship with technology – I’m furious with the hundreds of fake people who send me spam, so there’s a bit about that.’

But David’s shows are refreshingly non-hostile. There’s no picking on people or indulgent anger rants. ‘There’s a lot of guys who get up and be furious,’ says David, ‘but you can’t replicate that fury every night, which makes me think it’s contrived.’ Don’t you ever get angry though’ I ask him. ‘Yes,’ he says, ‘I just take it out on little key boards.’

It’s David O’Doherty Time
Until April 20
The Factory Theatre

105 Victoria Road, Enmore
$23-28
Bookings: 9550 3666 or www.crackercomedy.com