Carl Donnelly has written his autobiography and hopes to share it with his audience, despite the fact it hasn’t been published yet. This ingenious premise punctuates a smooth, tightly constructed show with a series of readings from his life story, set to a jazzy backing. What in lesser hands would appear an uneven two-headed set is skillfully woven by Donnelly to create a slick, clever and fiercely funny hour that shows a surprising range within his easy-going persona.
With the backing frame of his imagined ‘life story’, including a cheeky glance into his fancied future status as a national treasure, Donnelly contrasts brilliantly bemused evocations of a meandering thirty-something - including the thrill of Dad jokes and a hilarious anecdote about a crumpet themed near-death experience – with well-told scenes from his ‘tearaway’ past. In this way, the diversity of material is startling – grumbled musings on Jamelia’s political acumen and the possibility of fitting a record breaking number of Ferrero Rochers into his mouth sit alongside reminiscences of a visit to a brothel and a hazy acid trip.
This is all underscored by Donnelly’s winning way with an audience and a sly drawl that gently asserts superb confidence. Though the autobiography may not be published in the near future – and hopefully not, as the last scene involves a reading of his own death – his effortless charm and great material implies that he won’t have to rely solely on any literary ambitions for success.
