Jimeoin: What?!

Observational humour is often maligned for being shallow and safe. It’s a reputation which Jimeoin, one of the masters of the genre, playfully toys with at the beginning of What?!. “You’ll be no wiser at the end of this,” he promises.

It’s a great start and segues into the kind of material the Irishman has been lauded for in the past – novel observations which provoke laughs, claps and thigh slaps of recognition. From the practicalities of a missing shirt button, to the revolving doors of the venue, Jimeoin succeeds in his admittedly modest aims.

Unfortunately it’s not long until the quality heads south. The measured, controlled delivery remains, but the jokes become almost willfully prosaic – reaching the lowest point with a riff about women being similar to cats and men having more in common with dogs.

With 15 minutes remaining he digs out his notebook and tries out some new material. At first this seems like part of a more ambitious joke but it soon becomes clear that he is, genuinely, just reading out potential lines for future shows. “Do Chinese people ever get sick of Chinese food?” is one such quip read out from his Moleskine, suggesting there’s a reason these musings haven’t yet been worked into his full act.

He pulls it back at the end, delivering what is by far the best segment of the set and leaving the stage on a high, but it doesn't make up for what has come before.