Have Irish comedians always been this popular, or am I just a little slow on the uptake? With Maeve Higgins opening at BATS tonight and Jimeoin’s stellar show at the Opera House last week, you’d think they’d be running out of exports faster than a provincial rugby match. But apparently there’s still plenty more to come, as we saw at Jarlath Regan’s opening at the San Francisco Bathhouse last night, at what is only the second week of a very successful Comedy Festival thus far.

Intelligent and well-mannered, Jarlath seems the kind of approachable dude you could imagine having a beer with (and no, that’s not just because he’s Irish). He has a way about him which is friendly, sincere and instantly believable. Never feeling forced or fake, he has the skill needed to set us at ease and give us a good evening of entertainment.

Hailing from the opposite side of the globe, it’s no surprise that Jarlath has a lot to say on the cultural differences between our two islands. He’s a bit askew in thinking that we hate the front seat of taxis, but he hits our national pride spot on when he starts cracking jokes about our can-do attitude… although does the world actually still think that about New Zealand and sheep?

Jarlath isn’t only fixated on the differences between our nations though. He’s most in stride when he’s riffing on everyday experience. Where a comic like Steve Wrigley hinges his material on a wacky or unusual event, Jarlath’s cornerstone becomes the everyday of technology, marriage and gender, and judging by the warm reception on opening night it seems our nations are not so different after all. 

Sure, he’s got some great yarns about prison gigs and his Barbados honeymoon and a zany slide-show early on is quite funny, but what I appreciate most about Regan is his knack for staying with us, for keeping on our level and not casting the show above our heads. 

Entertaining and good natured, Jarlath Regan is well worth your time.
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