Bloodstock Festival 2018: 10 Things We Learnt

“I could have been a towel, but I was harvested too soon. Hear the lament of the flannel.” And with that brilliantly nonsensical one-liner, the impromptu stand-up set of Andrew O’Neill commences on the Sophie Lancaster Stage on the Saturday.

The comedian – fresh off the success of his hilarious book/show combo A History of Heavy Metal – takes to the stage as a surprise to many, arriving as a last-minute replacement for the doom metal supergroup With the Dead. Andrew had less than 24 hours to prepare for his performance, yet still shone with a mix of likeability, hilarity and randomness.

For thirty minutes, musings on metal, socks and alcohol are interrupted intermittently with unexpected and brief song numbers. The tone of the evening is able to swiftly jump from jovial and innocuous to offensive and sharp as if at the drop of a hat, creating an anything-can-happen aura that only makes the next, quickly impending punchline all the more unexpected.

It is a testament to Andrew O’Neill’s talent that, in less than a day, he was able to craft a show funnier than most stand-ups can with weeks of notice, wrapping up with the glorious sight of a circle pit breaking out to a spoken-word humming of “Raining Blood”.