one4review | On 17, Aug 2018

When I turned up at Underbelly George Square to meet some friends, I had no idea what show we were going to see. When I was told we were going to see improv rap, I was sceptical, but this show was utterly hilarious, genius and entertaining.

Meet Abandoman aka Rob Broderick, Ireland’s finest hip-hop musical comedian. The premise of the show is that Abandoman is the host of a pirate radio station, and the audience members ‘phone in’ and thus give material for improvised songs.

Audience members are asked to give details of their dreams, their minor achievements and their grumbles. With amazing speed, accuracy and humour, Abandoman turns these into hit rap songs, complete with special effects. One stand out moment was an audience member disclosing that he had excess elbow skin, and the song that followed was just so funny. The audience was captivated from the moment the show started until the very end, laughing and dancing to the songs. He doesn’t pick on audience members, as there are so many people with their hands in the air hoping to get their confession turned into a tune.

I can not recommend this enough, and I’ll definitely be back next year.

Reviewed by Claire

Underbelly George Square, Aug 17-19, 21-27