THESE LAST few years have been hectic for Deirdre O’Kane, so frantic and busy in fact that it is little wonder her new show is entitled Demented.
Deirdre, the First Lady of Irish comedy, and arguably one of Ireland’s favourite comedians, plays two shows at this month’s Galway Comedy Festival. She performs Demented at the Róisín Dubh on Friday October 28. She will also do a set as part of a mixed bill show with Kevin Gildea and Adam Burke in The Galmont Hotel’s Veranda Bar on Thursday October 27.
Deirdre’s world has certainly been an active one over the last two years. During that time, she fronted her own talk show, Deirdre O’Kane Talks Funny on RTÉ One; debuted a new stand-up comedy series, The Deirdre O’Kane Show; and was a judge on The Big Deal on Virgin Media Television.
More impressively she co-founded Comic Relief in Ireland, and presented the critically acclaimed RTÉ Does Comic Relief which raised more than €6 million to help those most in need as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the show reaching more than 1.4 million viewers across Ireland.
Yet these have also been tough times, causing Deirdre to reflect. If comedy is “tragedy plus time”, then the tragedy is over and we can finally laugh again. This is what Demented is all about.
As the six-time IFTA nominee told The Irish News, she emerged re-energised but "generally a bit demented" from the lockdowns.
"We've had two years of sh*te, excuse my lovely language,” she said, “but really, it's been so rubbish, so, yes, 'demented' was the word, especially for a woman of a certain age. You're talking the menopause, parenting teenagers, having older parents and all the hilarity that goes with that, while trying to save your face from falling into the sea."
Galway city is back in full swing; the Galway Comedy Festival is back in-person with no restrictions; and Deirdre O’Kane is back. What more could a comedy fan ask for?
Tickets for both of Deirdre’s performances are available via www.galwaycomedyfestival.ie
