To see ourselves as others see us is often an uncomfortable and unsettling experience. But rarely is it not worthwhile. Stand-up comedian Des Bishop has teamed up with Arthur Riordan and Bickerstaffe Theatre Company to present this loosely autobiographical tale of an American trying to swim against the emigration tide of the mid-1990s by coming to Ireland to try and make a new life for himself in the early days of the Celtic Tiger. Disappointed with the standard tourist fare of Aran cardigans, woolly hats and Riverdance mania usually offered to the "yank", he quickly abandons the bright lights of Dublin for the fictional rural idyll, Cadgemor, and what he hopes is a more authentic interaction with the "proper" Ireland.

Unfortunately, the bunch of scheming, conniving, stroke-pulling individuals he finds there are more than a match for a kid with only New York street smarts to defend himself.

In what is essentially a hiphop musical with original music by Dave Moore, live mixing by DJ Lee and some video back-projection thrown in for good measure, Bishop and Riordan (the show's co-writers) rely mostly on slapstick and caricature to deconstruct the image of a confident, successful, prosperous Ireland ("no dogs, no Bosnians!").

What is remarkable about this show is how appropriate the swagger of rap music (loud, brash, bold and over-confident) is to a satire on our Tiger-ish times. The trick of the piece, though, is that it is critical without giving in to easy cynicism. Even the bang-up-to-the-minute gags about some guy called Lawlor are throwaways rather than "look-how-smart-we-are" show-stoppers. It's brave, intelligent and funny.