Review: McIntyre's 'plámás the Irish, slag the Brits' routine goes down well with Cork crowd
Michael McIntyre on stage during his show at Live at the Marquee in Cork. Picture: Chani Anderson
When you're an archetypal, posh-accented English comedian worth a reputed €70m, performing to an Irish audience might appear on the surface to be a tough gig.
However, comedian Michael McIntyre clearly did his homework and went straight into a 'plámás the Irish, slag off the Brits' routine in the Marquee last night that had the audience eating out of his hand for the entire barnstorming 90-minute set.
To be fair, the audience didn't need much convincing of McIntyre's talents.
McIntyre has carved out a reputation as one of the UK's top comics, as well as having a lucrative career on mainstream Saturday night TV.
Anyone who thought his act would be a family one on that basis was soon disabused, as McIntyre spoke of his love for the Irish ability to insert the F word all over a sentence — "including in between words!"
His attempt at an Irish accent was dodgy enough. He admitted it was "generic", although his stab at the Northern Irish one sounded good to my ears. But it was McIntyre's slagging of the English penchants for bland food and dullness that really got the crowd rocking. Naturally.
The comedian prefers hilarious narratives to jokey punchlines, and regaled us with funny tales of losing and gaining weight, ordering dog food in a five-star hotel, and his recent wincingly painful battle with kidney stones.
He ventured into his private life when he discussed downing bottles of wine with his wife, and buying a half-and-half marital bed — firm on his side, soft on his wife's side. Only when he tried to get amorous did the folly of the choice become apparent...!
He may be a talented wordsmith, but McIntyre's real skill lies in his physical comedy — every pulled face, every grimace, every pose under that famously foppy fringe is timed to wring out the laughter.
He referenced a previous visit to Cork — at the Opera House - in 2012, when he fell badly on stage while trying to replicate a penalty shoot-out for England — and had to spend the second half of the show sitting down. That must have been hellish for a man best known for furiously pacing back and forth during his performance.
He urged the crowd that night to ask for their money back if they felt they had been let down, but there were certainly no such queues seeking reimbursement at the Marquee tent last night.
The support act, English comedian Jake Lambert was a very funny warm-up. Although he only had to mention the word 'kisscam' and the audience were in hysterics before he got his joke out. Some comedy is clearly universal.
Michael McIntyre returns to the Marquee tonight and tomorrow night.
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