• festivals
• edinburgh-fringe
• comedy

Michael Stranney, henceforth known as local Daniel Duffy, is here today to convince us to visit Ballybeg. Twinned with Ouagadougou, it is the world's number one tourist destination. Well, as voted for by the inhabitants of Ballybeg.

He builds a surreal world complete with classic village oddballs and their unique ways of life. Watch how Mary Sweeney plays a bowl of milk like a natural, or how Aoife the airplane assistant gets the plane ready for takeoff.

Despite the few technical hiccups (not all intentional), the show bounds along, interspersing old public information films with excellent pratfalls and props. The character of Duffy, a village idiot-boy, is a familiar one but done well. Even the love story between him and the girl – a real-life mannequin – is sweet. Although the romantic ending feels a touch half-hearted.

It is packed with throwaway gags, and could charm the socks off anyone, regardless of age. With a little tightening up here and there, it could develop into a superb show.

This review is based on a preview performance