Most recently noted as one of the finalists in this year’s Babycham ‘Funny Women’ competition, Conaty was a refreshing blast of colour and glamour amongst the more binary tones of her male counterparts.

However, her soft spoken tones made her seem slightly flustered and were not up to competing with the discourteous volume of ambient noise present and perhaps this was why it took a few moments for Conaty to appear to relax and kick into gear. Her first few set-ups were humorous preambles about her life but did not deliver much of a punch and it was when she was into the full flow of a story that a side-step with no conclusion caused her to momentarily lose rhythm and she was back to square one again. From where she kicked off and delivered the rest of her set seamlessly, confidently and comically.

Her time seemed to end just at the point when she was into full swing and I think another 10 minutes of similarly delivered material would’ve left me satisfied rather than feeling slightly cheated (like I was offered a taste of the main course but wasn’t allowed to order it).

But then that’s a clever marketing tool, isn’t it; always leave them wanting more and I would like to see Roisin Conaty again because I get the impression she is capable of performing to a much higher standard given a more receptive atmosphere.

Venue: Funny.co.uk Comedy Club (Evolution – Haywards Heath)

Date Of Show: September 12^th 2004

Editor's Note: Having seen Conaty perform on a couple of previous occasions I can concurr with these comments.  As her experience and consistency increase to let her talent shine through she is certain to develop as a strong and sought after act.