Roger O'Sullivan @ Monkey Barrel Comedy

Roger O’Sullivan has his sights set on becoming the greatest comedian the world has ever seen – or so the nostalgia-inducing PS1 style animation at the start of his show would suggest – but he’s got a little problem. He’s got what they call a peasant mindset. In such a mindset, ambition is equivalent to sin, and is best avoided in all cases. It’s one of many lovely biproducts of the English colonial project and Catholic expansionism on the Irish imagination. 

Divil May Cry was formed in the pursuit of escaping this repressive mindset, and credits its existence to the success of his last Fringe show, which might have been his last had it not been so successful. It’s an hour of endearingly grounded, stupendously witty humour delivered with excellent pacing by a charming up-and-coming comedian.

At one point in the show, O’Sullivan grimaces as he recalls a review calling his previous show “bog-standard Irish stand-up comedy.” Whilst O’Sullivan’s stand-up is certainly down-to-earth, he’s no Michael McIntyre – he’s got just a few too many jokes about the IRA under his cap for that. What’s best about him is that makes no pretences about who he is; O’Sullivan is proud of his peasant ancestry. He’s partially named after a man who died digging a ditch for the fun of it, he tells us, which conjures a hilarious image of what that funeral must have been like.

Inspiringly, he’s even managed to be proud of his failures. Chuckling to himself, O’Sullivan recounts the story of how he got his family excommunicated from their local parish after ringing the altar boy’s bell at the wrong time during a service. He cleverly recreates this moment in a parodic version of Guitar Hero he’s called ‘Mass Hero,’ where he must ring his bell in time with the descending communion wafers.

These more eccentric moments make Divil May Cry all the more entertaining than your average stand-up. It’s clear that he has a real love for his work, and the potential to make it big. Roger O’Sullivan has good cause to be ambitious, peasant mindset be damned.

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Roger O'Sullivan: Divil May Cry, Monkey Barrel Comedy (MB2), until 30 Aug, 5.45pm, £12.50-£14.50