Get Happy

Showcasing an eclectic mix of acts, Get Happy features some obvious high points in an uneven hour of comedy. The credit must go to Mary Bourke for earning the stars here. Her laconic Irish delivery is pitch-perfect as she dryly dissects the passive-aggressive tension of family calls and the irritations of phone queues. An American comic getting Anglo-Irish relations spectacularly wrong is the subject of the sharpest set-piece here, and Bourke justly earns the warm reaction of the boozy Friday night audience.

Gerry Howell struggles to maintain the momentum of the gig, and the crowd appear confused by his ruminations on the big bang. There doesn't appear to be any internal logic to his material, and the scientific references tend to confound rather than entertain.

Closing act Dr George Ryegold is a wayward, ethically challenged medic. Clearly a well constructed persona, Ryegold is a bit too reliant on shock tactics from the off. As a result, he leaves himself no room to pace the set properly and build to a cathartic send-off. That said, if he can tone down the more brutal medical references and focus more on the idiosyncrasies of the character, Dr George could be a winner.