Michael Redmond did indeed write a joke in 1987, a good one that still gets a laugh today. This isn’t a show about that one joke, though; it’s about the events led to by the invention of that joke with a few asides, audience questionings and discussions of plagiarism thrown in for good measure.
There’s no doubt that this is an established and respected comedy performer doing what he does best.
Redmond is famed for his dead-pan delivery and yet, he’s actually quite a happy chap on stage. He’s got mischievous, twinkly eyes under those heavy eyebrows and I wonder if his mournful reputation is now based entirely on his one appearance on classic sitcom Father Ted as the moribund Father Stone. Redmond has been playing it straight for years but, in this show, he’s joyously silly and has crafted some perfect one-line jokes that, especially when delivered by Redmond, bring fits of giggles from this reviewer.
As the resident host of Glasgow’s Stand Comedy Club’s Sunday night, Redmond has mastered the art of working a comedy crowd and there’s plenty of moments where he engages directly with folk in the audience. It’s like there’s a real possibility that, if he found one person particularly interesting then that would end up being the subject of the show. He meanders around his subject like a doddery aunt but there’s always a sense of a razor wit behind the befuddlement and there’s no doubt that this is an established and respected comedy performer doing what he does best.
On the subject of plagiarism, I recommend you do a Google search for Michel Redmond and Joe Pasquale. It’s a fairly well known bit of comedy gossip of a much more mainstream comedian stealing a gag from a somewhat less well known (but much more talented) one and Redmond deals with the issue of having some of his best jokes stolen in exactly the way you’d hope; he just continues to be funnier.