STAND-UP SATURDAY
Comedians come in all shapes and sizes with different perspectives and unique styles. Then there are also comedians who decide to keep things a bit simpler, approaching things more conversationally, casually, and far less restrained. That’s Rob Delaney. He’s a comic who’s not really breaking down barriers, taking risks, or reinventing the wheel in any way, but what he does works for the audience that he’s found. The comedian has just recently been granted a special that was shot in London for a packed house. The hour special is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video for anyone with a subscription.
He’s not globally known in comparison to many talents, but Rob Delaney has been in the game for a while. His reputation still precedes him amongst comedic greats in the industry, and he had a previously self released special back in 2012 in addition to TV and film appearances. His new stand-up act sees him talk about his family, how he’s acclimated to living in the United Kingdom, the occasional political opinions (these have become more common), prejudices, and his random life experiences of which he’s found the funny side. It’s just him and the mic as he spends the hour discussing a random assortment of topics and situations that sound as though they could only happen to him.
The critical stuff first. Like his last special, there is an abundance of repetition when telling his jokes, and he says the word “um” more times than are countable from the beginning to the end. He is political, which, is not necessarily a weakness and to anyone who doesn’t know, he himself is an activist so it’s natural that his personal world views would make it into the special. Apart from that, Delaney makes his set work and his live audience eats it all up. He does tell a few stories, though the interesting part isn’t in the actual substance of the story but more in how descriptive he is when telling them. Somehow he’s able to drag out a joke about penises for what seems like forever, though nearly every part of it seems to land with those present. One strong bit was a section he did at the beginning about his kids playing in the back yard, eating insects, beating up on one another, and he eventually spraying them with a water hose. His description of everything happening is incredibly detailed and specific, most of the laughs landing on the pieces of the joke where he’s explaining each individual portion.
Rob Delaney: Jackie is still slowly finding his audience as a mainstream comedian, and those reading could potentially end up as part of that audience.
Be forewarned that there are some jokes that are aimed at those who hold political office, current events, occasional vulgarity, and potentially off putting material. Although if none of that is bothersome then his performance as a whole should be enjoyable enough. Rob Delaney is still slowly finding his audience as a mainstream comedian, and those reading could potentially end up as part of that audience. The only way to know for sure, is to give him a look.
