AT FIRST glance, you might think this is a show about after-hours drinking. It is not. Danny O'Brien's Lock-In is about the time - or rather times, three to be exact - that the comedian was in prison.
No, he was not incarcerated, nor has he committed any misdemeanours. The Wicklow man was in Mountjoy and Wheatfield gaols to perform stand-up sets for the inmates.
Lock-In, which enjoyed successful performances at the Galway International Arts Festival and Clifden Arts Festival this summer, is returning to the Róisín Dubh on Sunday February 10 at 8.30pm.
Speaking to the Galway Advertiser about the show earlier this year, Danny said: “Prisons are everything you think they’re going to be, and nothing like you think they will be. It’s a strange atmosphere in that there’s no alcohol, it takes place during the daytime, there are guards everywhere, and you can’t interact with the guards, and they can’t interact with you. We had good banter with the prisoners, but you‘re not allowed ask them what they’ve done and you’re not allowed mention gang feuds or what gangs they may belong to."
The experience left a deep impression. “Playing gigs in prisons, you are testing yourself. You want to push yourself every year, do something different, better, harder, than before, and the more different the situation is, the more inspired you become as a performer. I can’t sit down and write jokes, I need to do things, that’s what helps me to create a show.”
Tickets are available from www.roisindubh.net; the Ticket Desk at OMG@Zhivago, Shop Street; and The Róisín Dubh.
