TEDFEST, the annual celebration of Father Ted, comes to Galway from Monday February 22 to Wednesday 24, and this year the highlight will be stand-up comedy from Joe Rooney (Fr Damo ), Michael Redmond (Fr Stone ), and Patrick McDonnell (Eoin McLove ).
The three-day event will also see the 2016 Tedfest Toilet Duck Awards stand-up comedy competition, the Fr Ted Table Quiz, and the Lovely Girls Competition.
The fun begins on Monday 22 with the Fr Ted Table Quiz hosted by Michael Redmond (as Fr Stone ) and Fr Malachy, in Massimo, William Street West. All questions are Father Ted related and the first prize is a VIP day trip for four to Tedfest on Craggy Island (Inis Mór ), which includes a return ferry, transfers, and the best of Tedfest hospitality. Registration is from 8pm, with the quiz starting at 9pm. A table of four people max, is €40 in advance from roisindubh.net and on the night if not sold out.
The night will also see The Lovely Girls Competition. Events include sandwich making, the lovely laugh, and walking around traffic cones. It is open to ladies of all genders. The prize is a game of crazy golf with Fr Stone the winner has to pay for, and a year's supply of from Mrs Doyle.
On Tuesday 23, from 8.30pm, the Róisín Dubh will host stand up comedy from the stars of Father Ted. Patrick McDonnell is best known from Fr Ted, Naked Camera, The Savage Eye, and Irish Pictorial Weekly. His Eoin McLove character, based on Daniel O”Donnell, is a sickly-sweet TV presenter and singer, popular with middle-aged women.
Not many people who have been struck by lightning and lived to tell the tale. While this may not have actually happened to Michael Redmond, it is a fate which befell his character Father Stone - one of the most memorable of Father Ted - an exceedingly boring priest, unable to hold a conversation.
The MC will be the great Joe Rooney, also known for his Timmy Higgins character in Killinaskully. On Father Ted he played plucky bad boy priest, Fr Damo, always leading Dougal astray. Admission is €12.50/10 and ticket includes free admission to silent disco afterwards.
The Tedfest 2016 Toilet Duck Award will feature eight of Ireland’s finest up and coming stand-up comedians, who will battle it out in a comedic war of wits until only one is left standing. The winner will receive the Toilet Duck Award trophy, a cash prize, and a gig at the Vodafone Comedy Carnival 2016. Hosted by Steve Bennett, it takes place at the Róisín Dubh on Wednesday 24 at 8.30pm. Admission is €8.
All events are fancy dress. There will be prizes each night for best outfits. Tickets are available at www.roisindubh.net, the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street, and The Róisín Dubh.
