Quality comedy in the heart of Hamilton? You must be joking? No, I am not but top British comic John Olivier was – to the delight of the Daylesford theatre audience on Friday night.

I have always wondered why international standard stand-up comedy hasn't become a staple of Bermuda's rather limited cultural fare.

After all the overheads would seem light, surely it would not seem to require much more than a single plane fare and hotel room – bring your own mic if you must.

However fellow comic Jonathan Young's amusing introduction to his friend's appearance seemed to lay out that it was more of a labour of love for Mr. Oliver rather than a lucrative opportunity.

Best known for his political humour on Jon Stewart's 'Daily Show', Oliver tackled a fair few other subjects but was best with topical satire.

The set opened with him mocking Bermuda's remaining colonial ties while lampooning Britain's imperial past which he said made America's recent forays into the field of world domination relatively benign by comparison.

The transplanted Englishman, now working in New York, told of how he has fallen in love with America – which in the light of its shameful past eight years under Bush he described as like falling for a drunk girl who was throwing up all over herself.

There was a lovely skit on the Romanian town which re-elected a mayor who had just died, delivered from the point of view of the concession speech of the losing candidate. "Really? Oh come on!"

Even swipes at the excesses of American consumer culture had a political edge.

After poking fun at the obvious excess of the Oreo-topped pizza he said it sent out a telling messages to would-be terrorists – 'There is nothing you can do to us which we are not already doing ourselves'.

Some of Oliver's best moments came from teasing the audience who he jokingly found a tad too condescending at times.

Insurance exec William won't forget the concert in a hurry – the pair shared a curious bond throughout the set.

My only gripe was Mr. Olivier's habit of complaining when an audience didn't get one of his jokes, which seemed unnecessary when they are roaring at virtually everything else you are throwing at them right from the off.

I had concerns it wouldn't be that way after a muted response to some good material from local opener Jonathan Young. Recent comedy competition winner Michael Keets was squeezed in for a short set which was a little rushed but showed promise.

All in all it was a very good night. Thankfully the Bermuda Festival have got it right in their selection of comedians after some truly awful choices in recent years – cringe-making puppeteer Ennio springs to mind but there have been others.

It's just a shame Bermuda audiences will no doubt have to wait for so long before there's anything to match it.