By Ron Bingham
This show is a free show at Dropkick Murphy’s, which is an Irish sports pub just up from Cowgate or down from the Pleasance/Gilded Square. The room is like one of those old army huts, with a curved concrete roof, which drips constantly if it’s been raining. Definitely an interesting place to visit for the atmosphere – especially if its not been raining and you like sport.
The comedy, which I believe changes each night, was very patchy on the night I was there. I afraid I didn’t catch any of the names of the performers and there is no way of finding out who they were (probably just as well for most of them), but there was a host and five people (four men and one woman) who came and did about ten minutes each. So you’re getting a lot of performers for your no money, but is it worth it?
Hard to say. Most of them didn’t seem to care about their routines or the audience reaction, which was muted to hostile for the most part, and only one or two showed any real passion about their act. One performer kept telling us how last night’s audience LOVED this joke and that joke (not really going to endear him to us, is it?) I got the impression most of them were just practicing for a proper gig or were there for the (maybe) free drink.
It’s in a handy location, so if you’re looking for somewhere to have a sit and a beer and possibly a laugh, then you could do worse than this. Oh, and the girl on the poster, Niamh Marron – the advertised host of this show, wasn’t there.