Another festival favourite and another easy ride. Maxwell kicks off well with a ‘pirates’ humming gag’ that warms up the audience and creates a convivial atmosphere that endures.
The theme of ‘twilight’ is tenuous at best- perhaps he forgot to develop it? – as really the only joke with reference to it, is the story about a party he happened upon in Saudi Arabia, which is very funny and quite original: the descriptions of a mansion filled with party-obsessed gay Arab men has people wiping away tears. Sadly there is a few too many obvious embellishments to the already witty tale, and that spoils the credibility on which the joke relies.
After this, he goes off on a bit of a rant about US politics which is nothing new, but he’s a clever guy and knows when to stop before boring the audience. He follows it up with a classic impersonation of a US infomercial for bladder weakness which elicits lots of belly laughter.
Maxwell relies on his Irish charm a bit too much: flashing a cheeky smile and shouting at the audience to get the laughs. He does have a lot of good material and is a safe bet for making you laugh, but he just doesn’t seem to be at his best this year.
3/5
Kate Denyer
