Colm O'Regan – Dislike! A Facebook Guide to Crisis

No doubt many of this year's visitors to Edinburgh would endorse Colm O'Regan's criticisms of Facebook, Twitter and text-language. Of course, these topics have become a well-worn staple of mainstream comedy in the last few years, so the performer sets himself a tough challenge by setting out to inject new life into them.

A robust opening section sets out the problems presented by social networking sites, and O'Regan maintains a calm, steady presence whilst casually picking apart various examples of shoddy language and the trivialising nature of the internet. Taking the knotty problems of history and putting them through the Facebook filter proves to be an effective way to expose the redundancy of much technological chatter.

Well patterned references to property, sky-scrapers and a solicitor's letter hold the show together in a satisfying unity. The firm foundations of the show allow O'Regan more space to release personal stories in the latter stages of the performance, as tales of Cork schoolboys are juxtaposed with more serious reflections on judges and the sexual nature of advertising.