Patrick Monahan - Stories and Tales for Kids, Who Can Run Faster Than Snails

Louise Black says...

Bellowing a warm introduction in a thick Teeside accent and bellydancing through the crowd, hips jangling, Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahan is clearly having a great time. His children’s show Stories and Tales for Kids Who Can Run Faster Than Snails is an incredibly energetic hour of anarchic comedy.

Seconds in, Monahan is already ripping into a poor unsuspecting "daddy" in the front row. The man handles him sportingly and Monahan hugs him and moves on, ready to pounce on his next unsuspecting victim. The audience-bating becomes a running theme as the show rattles on at an alarming rate, Monahan masterfully constructing elaborate tales and weaving in plenty of opportunities for youngsters to share the stage and the silliness.

Monahan’s charm allows him to get away with all manner of indiscretions; combined with a brilliantly surreal comic brain, his show is a bizarre and memorable Fringe experience.

Ciara Simms says...

Patrick Monahan is a very funny comedian for all ages but especially for children. As soon as he walks on the stage he has everyone laughing, adults and children alike. He starts off with simple jokes and then tells a story, acting it out and being funny along the way. He is very imaginative and improvises a lot depending on who the audience are and what they do.

He is very random and he does a variety of stuff from funny drawings to shooting water at the audience. He never falters and at the end of the show the whole audience cannot stop laughing or repeating the jokes that he used in his performance. It was a brilliant show and I would go and see it again because two shows would never be the same.