Dara Ó Briain review: Master comedian entertains Cork with conclusion to adoption story
Dara Ó Briain brought his Re:Creation tour to Live at the Marquee in Cork on Sunday night. Pictures: Chani Anderson
Comedian Dara Ó Briain returned to Cork’s Live at the Marquee on Sunday night, literally tripping over his feet in his eagerness to get centre stage.
There was rapturous applause from an audience happy to see the Bray funnyman return to the city. He too was thrilled to be “back in the tent” which was now slightly repositioned so it’s “the new Marquee, like the old Marquee but closer to a cement factory".
He joked that it’s the same tent but we’re “still getting drenched”, recalling a rain-soaked gig many years ago.
It’s been three years since Ó Briain last came to the Marquee and tickled our funnybones before tugging on our heartstrings with the witty yet poignant tale of his adoption and subsequent search for his birth mother — and in Cork on Sunday night, it was time for part two.
In 2022, Ó Briain’s tour revealed that he had started a search for his birth mother and — to the audience’s delight — had made contact with her and his half-siblings.
He has since spoken to the press about this choice of subject matter and, ahead of his new tour, Ó Briain said he wanted to continue the second part of his story by meeting his birth father.
“If that show was like 'Philomena', the second show is like 'Elf', where an unsuspecting professional man of a certain age suddenly has a giant in a clown outfit walk into his life,” he told the in February, and that sums up the tone of this entertaining sequel in his tour.
He entertained with more than a few hilarious detours and of course, the front row was under a keen eye all night.
During his first half he spoke with married couple Paula and Eamon from Mallow, who he joked wouldn’t give him more info than necessary about their lives. Ó Briain reassured the front row audience members that he never represents their replies accurately, always exaggerating for comedic effect, leaving them wondering, 'is that who I am?'
Closing the first half, he promised to share a story about really answering that ‘who am I?’ question after the interval.
Of course, that tale was the second part of his own origin story.
Having met his birth mother, Ó Briain wanted a complete picture of his life so he set out to meet his birth father, who didn’t know he existed.
“I’m still in contact with my birth mother… there is an obvious second question I have to ask her: who is my father?” he said.
We won’t spoil it as it’s such a delight to hear in person — but it is a masterclass in both storytelling and comedy.
An excellent conclusion to an outstandingly delivered personal story from a master craftsman. Could there be a part three, making this a trilogy tour?
• Live at the Marquee continues on Tuesday with the first of three nights for Joe Bonamassa Plays Rory Gallagher, with the first two nights celebrating the late Cork guitar hero sold out.
