August 14, 2026 at Gordon Aikman Theatre at Assembly George Square
Three things I know about David O’Doherty:
- A surprisingly large proportion of the British comedy industry insists on mispronouncing his surname, and he’s too nice to correct them.
- His tag on social media platforms is @phlaimeaux, which is pronounced Flymo (like Flymo) and that’s a joke I didn’t get until he explained it in a show a couple of years ago.
- He likes an eclipse.
I safely watched the 2026 solar eclipse on the steps outside the Aikman Theatre this week. Safe, that is, in the knowledge that I wasn’t going to miss the start of the show – since the star himself was also standing on the steps watching the skies darken. He was repeatedly greeted by fans on their way to see him on stage, delighted instead to be meeting him in person, and he happily chatted to each batch of people despite the in-progress cosmological event. You get the impression that he’s a man happy with his lot.
When the audience is finally seated, they’re treated to a visual rendition of the eclipse happening outside, albeit in the medium of masking tape on backing curtain. He didn’t want anyone missing out, you see.
In the past O’Doherty has described his shows as low energy musical whimsy, although I’d dispute that what he does is low energy. It has an unmistakable momentum, that’s maybe camouflaged by how personable the performer is.
He mentions early on that the front row is safe – he doesn’t really talk to the audience, as he has enough jokes. That’s certainly true – we’re treated to a solid 60 minutes, with no let-up. Even when he’s telling an emotionally resonant story about his grandfather, there are jokes, reversals and rug-pulls aplenty.
His subject matter, if listed, say in a review, might sound bland or hack, but it never, ever seems so by the time he’s packaged up and delivered it. One song, for example, takes in topics such as coffee, Facebook, and winding cassettes with pencils, but then finishes with an insightful observation about the dangers of nostalgia.
He has a lovely bit (that he’s referenced before on his podcast, What Did You Do Yesterday?) about fishing a ponytail of sadness from his shower plug hole after a breakup. He mentions more than once that he sometimes catches himself thinking that he can’t believe he gets away with this whole thing. His job, he tells us, is to think of funny things while in the bath, and then say them on stage for money.
He also manages to take down Elon Musk and play some jazz with his belly. I doubt anyone else is doing that combo at the Fringe this year!
He doesn’t end with an updated ‘My Beefs,’ which I miss, but instead another song, which has a similar backing melody. That’s as close as I can get to a complaint about today’s show.
Oh and it rhymes with Obaw-herty, not Obaw-kerty.
David O’Doherty is performing At This Stage at the Gordon Aikman Theatre, Assembly George Square at 19:10 daily until August 31st.
Sarah Stringer