The darling of satirical TV quiz shows, performing as a stand-up, Irish comic Dara O'Briain was a little underwhelming.

While undisputedly possessing a sharp wit, his performance in the first half of the show raised smiles rather than belly laughs, at least in this audience member.

This is not to say it was without merit; O'Briain's animated features, rapid, opinionated banter and skillful storytelling gave him the air of a friendly stranger in a pub who you end up drinking with until 2am.

His interest in his audience was appealing and best demonstrated in his delight at discovering one man, a food scientist, had invented the Solero icecream.

Undoubtably grateful to have hit on such a mine of material, he also appeared genuinely fascinated by the idea.

None the less, it wasn't until the show's second half that he really gathered any pace. Observations about modern Ireland ("Now people think you're mad if you move to England - don't go there, they say, it's full of terrorists") progressed to a clever take on cultural stereotypes, which, with some help from the audience, resulted in the Guatamalan people being branded 'sarcastic' and 'musical'.

Family was also a popular topic, as he mused on his concerns about his future children having English accents, what to say if your husband sounds like he's gearing up to leave you and best of all, a friend's disastrous marriage proposal, in which plans to pop the question in the Maldives had to be dramatically brought forward when the unfortunate man's bag was searched at Heathrow.

By this point, the audience, in the main older fans who probably knew him from stints on TV's Have I Got News For You and Mock The Week, were in raptures and O'Briain left the stage to deafening applause.

More Private Eye than Viz, O'Briain is a master of intelligent, conversational humour. But if you're looking for comedy that will leave you gasping for breath, you'd better look elsewhere.