Review by Steve Bennett

Although O+ looks like it should be a show about a blood group, it’s actually the nearest, typographically, that Aussie-based Irishman Dave Callan could get to the female symbol on his keyboard, even if you have to rotate your head to see it.

For, yes, this is a show on the oldest subject known to male stand-ups: women and their unknowable ways. And if that doesn’t have you running for the exit, Callan also took the apparently lazy approach of emailing 100 women a 100-question survey, so he didn’t even generate the material himself, but crowdsourced it,  as if researching some twisted episode of Family Feud.

Yet although this is not a show of great ambition, it is a show of great laughs. The bearded Callan offers a deliciously entertaining commentary to the results; while some of his subjects are sharply witty in their answers. Jovial audience interaction keeps the show barrelling along, with a chosen one designated a spokeswoman to answer questions ranging from ‘what’s the most bogan thing you’ve done?’ to ‘what’s the worst thing a man can wear?’ – and tonight’s punter proved more than equal to the task, with some wonderfully frank contributions.

Presented via the inevitable PowerPoint – which Callan is inordinately proud to have mastered – the most outrageous results are, to use the cliché, funny because they are true, and often fall into the category of ‘you couldn’t make this shit up’. Although the witty responses speak for themselves, the sharp-witted Callan injects some philosophising to his discussion of them, and the statistics, while a beautifully surreal introduction explains to the audience the history of The Woman, with a none-too rigorous approach to accuracy.

A feelgood finale completes a show that might not be the most artistically adventurous of the festival, but delivers more genuine laughs for your buck that almost any other.

Review date: 1 Aug 2011
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett