Ardal O'Hanlon

Ardal O’Hanlon only has his mic, a table and a glass of water on the large stage with him but he is so relaxed you feel as if you’re sitting in his front room having a wee dram and enjoying the craic.

There’s a full house tonight, from Ballymena to Belgium, and he keeps us all chortling in recognition with some outright belly laughs thrown in for good measure. Usually depressing subjects like Glasgow’s weather and the credit crunch are given a cheeky humourous spin and from there he bounces around a number of subjects from immigration through fairytales to children’s lawn toys. He has some valid and honest opinions on raising children and how it’s all gone horribly wrong in recent years. He covers a lot of serious topics and yet as I look around I see many of the audience actually wiping tears from their eyes.

O’Hanlon is a very funny, talented comic who it seems can fabricate a joke out of any topic. His delivery is natural, relaxed and he is a joy to watch.