Paddy Lennox

Earnest men are typically very likeable. Paddy Lennox is no exception to the rule - a grinning, sweet-faced gentleman whose Irish voice has a relaxing quality. He dresses inoffensively and his show opens with nicely shot video of he and his two boys camping in some very green countryside. It is, however, this utterly wholesome disposition whish renders Who Does He Think He Is? rather bland and unfunny.

The show concerns Lennox’s attempts to discover his true identity. An Irishman of partially English parentage, his struggle since childhood with racial and religious categorisation, is the subject of the performance. With the aid of a Powerpoint presentation, Lennox takes the audience on a guided tour of his lineage - from the rich military history on his father’s side of the family to the musical tradition on his mother’s. We are presented with photos, ephemera and song.

One of the main problems with the show is the fundamentally personal nature of the subject matter. Photographs and anecdotes about ancient relatives are of interest to other relatives. But to the unconnected observer - here the captive audience - such distant images and tales can only provoke where the family history is surrounded by intrigue, or the extraordinary. Here, we have a pedestrian insight into a British family which, like any number British families, has roots in several countries and a complex blood line. Lennox could be a very endearing comic but Who Does He Think He Is? suffers at the hands of a distinctly prosaic concept.