Comedy review: Patrick Monahan - Shooting from the Lip!, Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14), Edinburgh

By KATE COPSTICK
Published on 07/08/2012 12:54

BY the time Pat Monahan reaches the stage, there is just so much love in the room for him it is amazing he isn’t pregnant.

Patrick Monahan – Shooting from the Lip!

Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14)

HHH

Touching and hugging are very important to Pat, he tells us. We know. After the hugging there is the chatting – to the Iranian man near the door, some of his “regulars”, the drunk boys from Falkirk on the balcony. I lost count. In the midst of the social whirl there is the occasional snippet of material – the strictness of Irish parents, his grandad’s eating habits – and then a short blast of what I assume is the actual show, concerning summertime and women in cardigans.

At every turn, though, he is distracted by a contact he makes with the audience. In the middle of what was a promising section on Teeside councils closing down one in five shops in a “use it or lose it” approach to the high streets of the region, Monahan organises a photoshoot for a man in the front row, interrupting the routine. But no-one seems to worry. Except me.

There is the hint of a section on relationships and how to make them last, proposals and a finale that involves spooning. Monahan is a supremely engaging performer, adored by his audiences and capable of some terrific comedy. I’m thinking Ritalin…?

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