KEY POINTS:
If there's one gig to truly test a comedian's mettle it's the Comedy Gala. With just three minutes to get people laughing under the watchful eye of the TV cameras, not to mention so many other comedians to be compared to, the pressure is on.
Even star Irish MC Ardal O'Hanlon was palpably nervous to begin with, but as the night wore on he became the consummate host.
The former Father Ted star's jokes about the world's evils sat well next to quips on family life, and his wide-eyed energy made him the perfect between-act cheerleader.
That seemed all the more important this year, as the gala delivered only sporadic laughs, plus the expected litany of gags about the anti-smacking bill and far too many jokes about planes, airports and terrorism.
Not that everyone resorted to traditional stand-up. Aussies the Kransky Sisters showed geek-girl promise, performing Michael Jackson hits like only three backward Queenslanders can.
Kiwi Sam Wills (the boy with tape on his face) abandoned words altogether for most-creative-way-to-embarrass-audience-members gags.
And fellow Kiwi Wilson Dixon was reliably dry as a pretend country singer.
But the star of the night was undoubtedly Aussie Carl Barron, whose routine is of the more traditional ilk. He could have said anything for all the crowd cared - there's something innately funny about his timing.
Stifled cries of "That's so true!" greeted his observations about the inanities of social encounters.
Canadian Craig Campbell and Brit Alun Cochrane also deserve full houses for original material about predators and ninjas, respectively.
Some of the more experienced acts, such as the Rove-like Irish star Ed Byrne and Aussie musical trio Tripod, were a little too slick for their own good.
The former closed the night with an upbeat discussion on sleep (and other things you can do in bed) with an effervescence that suggests he gets a little too much.
The latter seemed to rely on apparently impromptu banter that might have been amusing to them but failed to engage the audience.
Local comedy vets Jan Maree and That Indian Guy nearly crashed and burned under the pressure, their jokes falling flat after uncomfortable errors.
Of their peers, Ewen Gilmour scored big laughs for a mostly dirty set that managed to skirt the anti-swearing rules of the night, Dai Henwood was reliably funny in his lamenting of 80s fashion, and Brendhan Lovegrove went for high-brow fodder, while nervously chugging back almost an entire bottle of water.
The surprise best Kiwi act, though, was Simon McKinney, whose supermarket check-out impression was almost as funny as his drunken walk.
