Desire: Des Clarke

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Des Clarke didn’t want to be a comedian, he wanted to be a Scottish hero: a footballer or an astronaut. His show focuses on these three dreams, as well other desires he has encountered throughout his life. Hence the name, Desire. It’s even got the word Des in it.

The first half of the show is taken up talking to his predominately Scottish audience and this is comedy preamble at its best. Clarke has a joke for almost every town in Scotland and clearly has a talent for off-the-cuff comedy. The rest of his act follows in a similar vein – the merits and miseries of Scotland provide ample comedy fodder and his audience are in hysterics.

Clarke’s material is witty and original, plus, he’s a comedian who cares – he’s worried about the state of the nation: Scotland is being run by Salmond and Sturgeon, “two slightly warped fish.” That can’t be too good, Clarke points out. However, he reassures us that the country will be ok; it has always been ahead of its time, exemplified by Irn Bru, a company who invented text language back in 1946.

At the moment Clarke is a bit of a one-trick-pony and he’ll need to branch out from his specialist subject of Scotland if he’s going to reach the glittering heights of comedy greatness. However, this is one home-grown talent to watch out for.