Place on Bill: Headline
Venue: Barnstromers – Capitol,
Horsham
Date of
show:20th November 2004
Kevin McCarthy is a cross between
Big Ron (Eastenders) and Bob Hoskins; he’s a large, hirsute,
gruff and amiable man. His cool and confident demeanour affords him the bearing
of having just walked into his own living room to address a collection of
friends.
His set is mostly comprised of
anecdotes and observations which, with some comedians, you might accept at face
value but McCarthy’s stories carry sincerity and credibility. He comes across as
a man who has experienced a lot in life and so has a ‘funny thing happened’
story for any given situation. His delivery is conversational to the extent of
being one-to-one with the audience. It doesn’t suffer from a stilted sense of
being over rehearsed and you could well imagine that another night would be
performed slightly differently.
In between the tales comes a
selection of jokes that range from deft one liners to gut wrenching groaners and
even a scatological magic show with audience participation.
Comically versatile and
down-to-Earth makes McCarthy an instantly likeable and skilled performer who
would go down well in any crowd or venue.
