A naturally amiable, likeable and relaxed performer, this gargantuan Irishman is a slow starter in converting his engaging chatter into solid laughs.

But after a few minutes of beating amiably about the bush, the quality starts creeping up; settling on an average somewhere between the 'solid' and 'quite good'. Much of his routine stems from relationship troubles, a comedic path eroded by the footsteps of so many comics who have gone this way before.

His best moments come with up-to-the-minute topical gags, or when he gets grumpy, bitterly moaning at all those things in life that don't work properly. Better yet, he gets uncharacteristically reactionary and shamelessly unsympathetic, berating, for example, low-paid workers for not being bright enough to get decent jobs.

Dempsey needs to be as brutal on his own material as he is on those targets; trimming the flab from his act and concentrating on those solid, funny and original moments of which he proves himself capable.

Combined with his enviably laid-back performance skills, consistently strong material would elevate him from the reliable mid-bill act he is at present to an impressive headliner.