What do you get when you put an Israeli and an Irishman together? An hour of fun and laughter, judging from the reactions to this two-hander from Israeli-American Ori Halevy and Irishman John O’Keeffe, acting as a last-minute replacement for Brendan Hickey. Both have a good rapport with the audience, whether just through crowd work, or in the case of Halevy, getting them to choose what joke he tells – always a risky move, but one that he makes pay off no matter what.

O’Keeffe’s material is initially solidly entertaining, with early gags about working as a supply TEFL teacher particularly hitting the spot. However, it’s the darker material about his mental health and relationship history where O’Keeffe really shines, with his very culturally appropriate take on generational trauma and recounting of his first time with a girl standing out. The latter routine in particular allows O’Keeffe to show his physical as well as verbal skills to great effect, with his acting out the encounter engaging the audience on both levels.

Fringe veteran Halevy initially takes things on a darker turn, with edgier jokes about the Holocaust, but then skilfully combines the light with the dark by focusing on the absurdities of relationships and his recounting of trying to leave a Berlin New Year’s Eve Party whilst on drugs.

This latter story gives Halevy ample opportunity to demonstrate how he weaves slapstick with black comedy and vivid storytelling to create a vividly hilarious caper that has the audience fully engaged. Halevy mostly stays away from politics, which doesn’t stop him from occasionally joking about the current situation in Gaza, except for a passionate (but still really funny) argument for political fluidity and centrists as being the silent majority. In light of current debates about Israel and Palestine, this seems like a surprisingly radical approach, particularly after getting a lot of laughs from farting and lengthy discussions about vacuum cleaners.

However, what Halevy and O’Keeffe achieve with ‘An Irishman and a Jew’ is to keep things light – after all, with all that’s going on in the world right now, why not just settle for making people laugh? The result is a show that engages and entertains the audience by keeping the focus simply on the comedy and is well worth seeing because of that.

‘0 Ambition‘ is at Alchemist Cocktail Bar and Restaurant – The Fallow until Mon 25 Aug at 19:10