There not too many stand-up comedians that seem as approachable and friendly as Patrick Monahan. At the end of his show he even stays behind to chat with some of his audience, and all throughout his one hour act he promises not to poke fun at anyone in the public. Turns out it’s not completely true, as he does laugh here and there at some of the people sitting in front of him, but it’s all done in a light-hearted, friendly manner, without going to the point-at-them-till-they-die-of-embarrassment type of comedy.
Monahan doesn’t appear to have a theme that interlinks all of his ramblings, but instead goes for random little stories, that are someone connected to each other but at the same time completely unconnected. His jokes are neither risqué nor bland, sitting more in a pleasant, relaxed balance, where he doesn’t bore but neither offends anyone. From a mixed Iranian and Irish background, Monahan gets his best jokes when talking about his upbringing and his parents life styles (her mother, hardly an Islamic fundamentalist since she married an Irish catholic…), but also has some good lines at the expense of the easy-punters Americans (according to Monahan, Americans don’t have binge drinking, but alien abductions instead!).
The end of the show comes a bit abruptly and very randomly, as he sings a song and gets a couple of members of the public to be part of his band, but up until then, spending an hour in Monahan’s company is quite a nice treat.
3/5
Adrian G. Velazquez
