WHILE recognisable to most for his roles in Father Ted, My Hero and Death in Paradise, Ardal O’Hanlon has proved he is an accomplished stand-up performer.

He breezed into the Haymarket on Sunday to lighten up the mood of everyone there with his anecdotes and jokes.

Being recognised as one of the characters that he plays is a regular challenge for O’Hanlon, who constantly has to battle the impression that he is as dim-witted as his character of Father Dougal MacGuire, but strangely never his clever character in Death in Paradise.

His show, The Showing Off Must Go On centres around the idea of what exactly it means to be a show-off and the conflict involved in having a job such as stand-up comedy but not wanting to be a show-off.

O’Hanlon’s stories about growing up in a small town in Ireland and the minor things that are perceived as ‘showing off’, including daring to wear such unreasonably flashy garments such as high-visibility jackets, or earning the nickname of the ‘Mussolini O’Hanlons’ for being so adventurous as to eat spaghetti bolognese.

This desire to not be a show-off comes as somewhat of a surprise, given the stage is plastered with his face as numerous tour posters festoon the stage. However, he explains that as he has got older, the 53-year-old has felt he needs to speak up more than ever.

Modern life comes under attack from his razor-sharp wit, with issues such as gender politics, the south east’s lack of plates, and how paying nearly £20 for a gin and tonic will pretty much ruin your evening.

O’Hanlon deftly moves from one topic to the other in the manner of an expert, criss-crossing from one subject to another while pausing to reflect on what on earth is going on these days.

While there is most certainly an amount of moaning that takes place, it never feels like a rant or a tirade against the world, more or a sharp and incisive take on what is going on.

A sharp, witty, and above all funny show, O’Hanlon was on sparkling form as he performed with gusto, taking the audience through the highs and lows of being Fr Dougal, why you should not serve a steak on a slate or put tea in a square cup.