He’s the affable presenter from BBC’s Mock the Week, and he’s easy to love.

Starting promptly, and admonishing those who were late, he leapt into his excitable routine, those massive hands flapping all over the place.

And there’s no doubt that Dara is funny – in some parts absolutely hilarious, in particular the falling off the bike routine, plus the video games in the second half.

Sadly, however, I couldn’t possibly comment on his entire performance, as I wasn’t able to catch it – due in part to his ridiculously fast talking (BBC producers obviously tell him to slow it right down) and the shocking audio from that annoying face mic, which simply emphasised the first problem.

It became a battle to try and make out the words – not quite what you want from a relaxing evening’s entertainment.

A pity, too, that he felt compelled to point out the audience’s lack of energy in responding – perhaps they were having the same problems as me?

Nevertheless, the bits that made it across were mostly great (dull baby talk notwithstanding), and his mutant Latinos encore was superb, ensuring most us left on a real high.