THE COMEDY Club in Cuba* is a Galway institution and is synonymous with Sunday nights in the city, but nothing stays the same forever and a change is on the way as the club is about to move to a new slot on Fridays.
Paddy Courtney (Paddywhackery, Prison Break, and the little purple guy in the Lotto ads ) plays the Comedy Club this Sunday at 8.30pm and has the distinction of being the last comic to play at the Sunday night slot.
“It will be a bit emotional,” reflects Gerry Mallon, who runs The Comedy Club. “I have been working on Sundays for the past 10 years but while Sunday does suit a lot of people, if I had a euro for every time someone said, ‘I’d love to go to the comedy but Sunday isn’t a good night’...”
After Paddy Courtney’s show this weekend, The Comedy Club will take place every Friday night at Cuba*, and Gerry has numerous practical, logistical, and personal reasons to host the club at the beginning, not the finish of the weekend.
“It’s time for a change,” says Gerry. “While the club has been going very well it’s getting harder to fill. The social scene in Galway has changed in that the world and his sister goes out on a Saturday and stays out ‘till all hours. On Sunday they are in a coma buried under the quilts or the newspapers they fell asleep reading.
“On Sunday everybody is kicking back and I’m running around putting up posters and flyers and picking comedians up from airports. Having the club on Fridays means I’ll be able to go to my son’s soccer matches and keep up with the Gaelic football.”
The club may be changing to a different night, but what will not change is the quality and consistency of the acts performing there. The first Friday show will be on October 17 with Canadian multi award winner Phil Nichol and Tommy Tiernan as the guest MC. On October 24 Ardal O’Hanlon (who Gerry describes as “a good friend to the club” ) will take to the stage. Also confirmed to play are Adam Hills and PJ Gallagher.
“The Friday shows might have a different dynamic,” says Gerry. “On Sunday it’s a lo-fi energy and people are looking to be entertained. Fridays might be a bit more up and at ‘em. People will be coming out of work, looking forward to the weekend and adrenaline fuelled, or maybe drink fuelled.
“Hopefully people will continue to support the club and I think it being on Friday will provide a different aspect to the Galway social scene. Many come to Galway and ask what’s on and want to go to the comedy but can’t if it’s on a Sunday. Friday nights can change that as there was nothing on early on a Friday to start the weekend, but now there is.”
Tickets are available for this Sunday’s show and the subsequent Friday shows at Bar 903, The Cellar Bar, and at the door which opens at 8.30pm.
