‘One of the hottest young stars in Irish comedy,” blares Emma Doran’s publicity. How nice to be so called while also being parent to a 20-year-old daughter. How this situation came to pass is the matter of Doran’s show Mad Isn’t It, which introduces the Dubliner – a rising star at home via her viral lockdown videos – to London audiences.
Most will be happy to make the acquaintance: 10 years a standup, Doran is an assured presence onstage, with a pleasing streak of wickedness underpinning her tales of delinquent youth and equally delinquent motherhood. Mad Isn’t It doesn’t attempt anything outlandish: it’s in the vein of those autobiographical calling-card sets with which standups often launch their solo-show careers. But Doran’s life story doesn’t want for comical raw material, and she brings to it a diverting sharpness and lack of sentimentality.
