NORTHERN IRELAND'S finest comedians and rising stars will be centre stage at the Vodafone Comedy Carnival Galway with shows from Kevin McAleer, Colin Geddis, Shane Todd, Paul Currie, Diona Doherty, and Sean Hegarty.
A legend of Irish comedy, Kevin McAleer’s deadpan storytelling style, and surreal, rural, sense of humour, has been going strong since first appearing on RTÉ's Nighthawks in the late 1980s. He has come to the attention of a new generation in his role as the incredibly dull Uncle Colm on Channel 4's Derry Girls.
Colin Geddis is the creator and writer of the online sketch and stand-up comedy channel Gedzilla films, which has close to 10 million YouTube hits. He also gained notoriety with YouTube sketch show, I Am Fighter, which he wrote, performed, and produced, playing the lead character, ‘Barry ‘the blender’ Henderson’. He now produces The General Banter Podcast. Colin Geddis: Safe Space is at The Mick Lally Theatre on Sunday October 27 at 9pm.
Shane Todd's latest show, The Toddfather, will be performed at The Mick Lally Theatre on Saturday October 26 at 9pm. The Toddfather came about when he lost a bet with a mate and had to get 'The Toddfather' tattooed on his leg. With millions of online video views, a 2019 Irish and British stand-up tour, television appearances, and The Shane Toddcast podcast, it probably will not be long before we see The Hot Toddy…
Probably the busiest of the Northern contingent this October will be Paul Currie. A favourite of Galway audiences, his comedy mixes sketch, absurdism, mime, and puppetry, with a determination to bring the inner child out in every adult in the audience. “What I really try to do with my stand-up is to bring that out in adults and ask them to drop those barriers," he said.
Paul is performing a number of shows, including his latest, Trufficle Musk, at The Mick Lally Theatre on Friday October 25 at 9pm, and reprise the award winning family show, Release The Baboons (suitable for ages 9+ ) in The Ruby Room, The Kings Head, on Monday October 28 at 1pm.
He will also appear at the Best Of Norn Iron in the Comedy Village, Eyre Square, on Monday October 28 at 8pm. This show features all the above acts, along with Micky Bartlett as MC. A regular on BBC Northern Ireland panel shows The Blame Game and Monumental, Micky came to prominence after winning the BBCNI stand-up talent show Find Me The Funny.
Completing the Northern Irish contingent is husband and wife duo Diona Doherty and Sean Hegarty. Derry Girls fans will recognise Diona as Katya from series one. She was also Tracey in BBC improvised comedy Soft Border Patrol. Her stand-up mixes dry wit with dark humour.
A one-liner comedian from Lurgan, Sean Hegarty wowed the judges on Ireland's Got Talent, making it to the live semi-final shows. He also won Ireland's Funniest Joke with his pizza pun, "Do you think if one Domino's Pizza place were to close down, all the rest would have to follow?" triumphed over 450 other gags. Sean remarked, "It was a bit of a surprise winning as I don't think it's even my funniest joke. Like, just last week I wrote a joke about the biggest pizza ever made, to be honest...I think it's gonna be hard to top that!"
For tickets see www.vodafonecomedycarnival.com
