Paddy Young cuts an intentionally sweaty, nervous figure onstage. His self-deprecating style of humour is paired with a vaguely reptilian charisma to put the audience off their guard and assail them with some low brow but undeniably funny material about everything from keto diets and Warhammer to the trials and tribulations of getting changed in the gym. His awkwardness and self-deprecation are the crux of the show, and the “loser” persona he develops is the source of much of the show’s comedy. The silly, lewd, “undatable” persona before you has you drowning in sleaze and laughing about subjects you didn’t think could ever be considered funny.
Young’s crowd work is also a crucial element of his show. He picks out members of the audience to prod and tease. He asks intentionally uncomfortable questions and improvises admirably off whatever answers they give or choose not to give; a family at the front of the audience found themselves enduring the most of this to pretty hilarious effect. On occasion, however, Young will diverge from his point completely to pursue less than fruitful crowd work and can end up down cul-de-sac – losing him much of the momentum he builds.
His lecherous style wears thin towards the end of the show, and after a barrage of sex jokes, you’re left wishing the show could have been diversified slightly. However, we all need some crass and boorish laughs every now and then; for that, Paddy Young is your man.
Paddy Young: If I Told You I’d Have to Kiss You, 19:50, Monkey Barrel, Until August 23
19:50 August 5-13, 15-23
