Patrick Monahan's Stories and Fables for Kids that Like to Sit at Tables

Children's shows, however conceptually regressive they may seem, are far from the last refuge of the complacent comedian. Those who attempt them often find it necessary to produce multi-layered material capable of pleasing not only the toughest crowds on the circuit, but also their weary, browbeaten parents.

Patrick Monahan takes pains to acknowledge this divide in the audience and, from the onset of Stories and Fables for Kids that Like to Sit at Tables!, seems to temper a natural inclination to play to the parents present. Though the Paul O'Grady Show regular appears to shoot himself in the foot upon the event's opening parody of an in-flight announcement – a wordy allusion which seems to go over his young target audience's heads – one is given the impression that this crucial gag was never aimed towards them at all. Indeed, on the occasion that Monahan finds himself provoking laughter from an infant, he notes that "she's laughing and doesn't even know the reference," effectively denying himself ill-gotten plaudits.

It's a shame that both sides of Monahan's material tend to be so clearly defined, for the stretches during which the show is at its strongest are those in which he treats the audience as a single entity, interacting anarchically with five to 25-year-olds on stage. The show's narrative is a little lacking but this hardly matters: it is just a framework upon which to hang some first class audience participation. This is a show bound to please adult and child alike, just not necessarily at the same time.