Jack Barry: Alien

• Tom Bruce-Gardyne
• 6 August 2019

This article is from 2019

credit: James Deacon

A warm tale of love and strange jobs

Recovering from a four-month cough, Jack Barry still has a frog in his throat as he bounds onto the stage. Is he going to make it, or will he croak halfway through? He admits that being bed-ridden with a cough does sound a bit childish, but he has already won us over with his warm, self-deprecating wit and we're happy for him to surf home on a sea of laughter.

Last year Barry was a self-proclaimed sexpert in Tango. This time he's concerned about aliens of the immigrant kind, such as his long-term Argentine girlfriend, Martina. Being a pot-smoking hippy at heart, he would personally do away with borders altogether which explains why he never made it as a spy. But he did represent KFC by running its social media account, and, as we discover at the end, he was a child star in a Chinese romcom.

Along the way there are riffs on drugs, bedwetting and Barry's failure to secure a slot on Comedy Central's Roast Battle. Perhaps best of all is that hoary old dilemma facing every newly infatuated couple: mention the word 'love' too soon and, in his words 'you'd cannonball into a hot bath and burn your butthole'.

Banshee Labyrinth, until 25 Aug, 8.55pm, donations at the venue.