Maxwell welcomes the audience in his trademark skinny jeans. As he admits, they are two sizes and ten years too tight. The first, but most definitely not the last of the self-deprecating jokes in Andrew Maxwell’s Supernatural.
The Dublin-born comedian who has gained in popularity since last year’s if.comedy award nomination, has an advantage that many stand-ups at this year’s festival do not — a fan base. The audience is there by no accident. They pay their ticket fees knowing what to expect, and they want to be entertained. Which they are.
Aside from poking fun at himself, mostly his appearance (he really is a small Irishman with the hair of, as he says, a “Lego man”), he regales the crowd with details of recent gigs in a maximum security prison and a Loyalist bar on Belfast’s Shankill Road.
Maxwell is foul-mouthed, but his use of the word “fuck” in all its forms is not seen as gratuitous. It is eaten up by the crowd. Subjects that should be shocking are instead hilariously taboo. Whether he likens abortion to taking a dump or talking of the need for fair trade cocaine, the public loves Maxwell.
Furthermore, he knows how to handle his audience if he gets heckled from a fellow Irishman at the back row. Maxwell takes this to his advantage, banters for a bit, cracks a couple of on the spot jokes and then leaves the hecklers without words. The faithful audience applaud and is pleased with his quick wit and fast responses. Maxwell can bet this year he will be recruiting even more devotees.
3/5 
Jenn Hardy
