Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan needs no introduction. An award-winning stand up comic, he’s also known for appearances on Father Ted and Derry Girls to name but a few, as well as hosting his own popular show on Irish television.

However, it’s his new live tour ‘Tommedian’ which is now making headlines and is as brilliant as the name suggests. You’d be forgiven for thinking some kind of Irish cult gathering was happening at a sold out Brighton Dome on Thursday evening. When support act Eleanor Tiernan (the surname isn’t a coincidence – it’s Tommy’s cousin) asks if there’s any Irish in the audience, the roof almost comes off. Eleanor starts the evening with a strong twenty-five minute set and warms the audience up suitably for the main event coming after the interval.

When Tommy Tiernan walks on to the stage, he immediately has the whole audience in the palm of his hand. His poetic storytelling, energetic impressions and mystifying demeanour take you straight into his imaginative world and it’s a wonderful place to be. There’s some bizarre themes in there but it’s polished material and Tiernan knows and trusts his craft. He isn’t afraid to cover dangerous topics too, such as the sexual life of Down’s Syndrome sufferers and curious noises from Cerebral Palsy patients but, as he rightly points out to us all, he is laughing with them and not at them. It’s his own reaction to these cases that he draws comedy from, not from the people themselves. On this particular night, there were actually two patrons who were offended and stormed out whilst loudly airing their feelings mid show. Tiernan handled the situation perfectly and professionally, as you’d expect, but you could see it naturally played on everyone’s minds.

Some slightly niche material to open the show surrounding Bob Dylan is a little lengthy but there’s always laugh-out-loud moments around the corner – a hilarious Samuel Beckett impersonation one of my personal favourites.

Overall, it’s a wonderful eighty minutes of comedy and a much needed release from the outside world, worth noting especially due to Tiernan’s request of asking all audience members to have their phones locked away in custom made pouches. A fantastic idea and possibly what all theatres should do.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️