Patrick Kielty’s “Help” – 10 October 2015, Guildhall, Derby

Now days more famous for being Mr Cat Deeley and the father of their expected kitten, its sometimes easy to forget that first and foremost Patrick Kielty is one of the funniest men Northern Ireland has ever produced. His current tour “Help”, which myself and my boyfriend were in the audience for this evening at the Guildhall, Derby, successfully reminds us of this.

Patrick (or should I say Paddy’s) support act for the evening was 20-something talented comedian, rapper and improviser (he even has his own improv group) Chris Turner, who entertained the audience with intellectually chinless comedy cheese, going from roman numerals to an audience inspired rap in less than 20 minutes.

Following Chris’s warm up Paddy (and a bottle of wine he shared with some lucky audience members) made the most of his witty Irish charm to take us, the audience, on a side-splitting journey across Ireland, England and LA, via love, sex and relationship advice that almost made us pity his happiness as our applause and use of (provided) pen and paper enabled us to as to his “Dos for Paddy” book, and left us leaving the venue in the knowledge that we should “trust people who like big butts as they cannot lie” (though sadly that piece of advice didn’t make it into the final book.

Paddy is only six dates into his extensive UK tour, so if you haven’t seen him yet don’t panic as his tour continues for the next couple of months, including Lincoln Drill Hall on Sunday 11 October, Komedia, Brighton on Thursday 15 October, Mill Arts Centre, Banbury on Friday 16 October, The Y Theatre, Leicester on Saturday 17 October, Cornerstone Arts Centre, Didcot on Monday 18 October, The Glee Club, Nottingham on Thursday 22 October, Hen & Chicken, Bristol on Friday 23 October, Huntingdon Hall, Worcester on Saturday 24 October, Glee Club, Birmingham on Sunday 25 October, The Lowry, Salford on Wednesday 28 October, The Dukes, Lancaster on Thursday 29 October, Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton on Friday 30 October, Pocklington Arts Centre on Saturday 31 October, Komedia, Bath on Wednesday 4 November, Cambridge Junction on Thursday 5 November, the Arts Centre, Colchester on Saturday 7 November, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, on Sunday 8 November, and Komedia, Bath (for a second visit) on Wednesday 25 November.