Paddy Courtney

Vicar Street, Dublin Sat 8pm 23 0818-719390

Vicar Street, Dublin Sat 8pm 23 0818-719390

If you had put a small wager on Dublin comic Paddy Courtney becoming the next host of the Late Late Showyou would have got odds of 33/1. It's a pity you never thought about him as an outside candidate because following his appearance on the Late Latelast week, the bookmakers Paddy Power have decided to pay out on all the 33/1 bets. This is only because during his appearance, Courtney engineered it so that he was technically the host of the show for a brief period.

Going from strength to strength as a comic, Courtney has formidable MC-ing skills but given a longer show such as this one, he can really develop his material. He may have a likeable on-stage persona but he can go to some very strange places in his material while all the time keeping the humour quotient very high.

There are no gimmicks here – it’s the real comedy deal and he does it very well.

Brian Boyd

Brian Boyd

Brian Boyd, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes mainly about music and entertainment