The time has come and the comedy cats are back in town.
By this evening all comedians hailing from the USA, Europe, the UK and Ireland will have landed in the Marble City for the weekend of laughter that lies ahead.
This is the 16th annual Carlsberg Cat Laughs Comedy Festival and what a weekend it plans to be... With the weather forecast a little good, a little bad and a little ugly, there is some pathetic fallacy and this may also be a taster of what is to come from the venues around the city this weekend.
According to kilkennyweather.com it looks like Friday will see some light rain but it should still stay on the mild side for the long weekend. Saturday should hold fine but it is likely there will be some rain on Sunday.
WIth a comedians soccer match to contend with and a Cat Laughs treasure hunt also on the cards, we can only hope that whatever about sun, that the rain will hold off.
Speaking to the Kilkenny Advertiser yesterday festival organisers say that the festival fever has already begun in earnest.
New festival director Rebecca Austin from Australia says that she is very excited about her first festival which she believes has something for everyone.
“I think people will be very happy with this year’s festival. Some of the big shows are already sold out such as Dara O’ Briain, Simon Amstell and Neil Delamere on Saturday night, however, there are still tickets for lots of shows and I remind people from the south-east to check out our local deals currently available - locals get cheaper tickets with proof of address.”
Rebecca has been astonished by the onslaught of bookings this week which is typical Irish last minute style.
“We’ve experienced a huge rush on tickets this week at the box office which we are delighted about. We are extremely busy but there is still lots of availability for Thursday and Friday nights.”
Rebecca took over the reins of the festival this year from Eddie Bannon who took over from festival founder Richard Cooke. This is her first year as top cat however, she has attended the Kilkenny festival four times in her bid to source comedians for the Edinburgh fringe festival.
“It’s great to be part of the Kilkenny festival. It really is a fun festival to be involved in and we have some super acts this year.”
Like many of the comedians, Rebecca advises comedy-goers to see the Pajama Men who are a theatrical comedy group playing at the Set Theatre. These festival first-timers bring with them a hoard of heroic characters and high energy - the programme points out that they are not suitable for children - but what comedian is!?
Simon Amstell has already proven to be hugely popular as has Des Bishop, Jason Byrne, Karl Spain, Maeve Higgins, PJ Gallagher and Jarleth Regan. Other festival favourites include Ian Coppinger, Dom Irrera, Ardel O’ Hanlon, Barry Murphy and David O’ Doherty.
Speaking about the effect that the festival will have on the city this weekend, Jane Russell CEO of the Cat Laughs says that the revenue coming from the festival has to date topped €8million.
“This is a huge financial windfall for Kilkenny. We are once again expecting huge crowds to descend upon the city for the bank holiday weekend and this means that hotels, pubs, shops, restaurants and other businesses will all be benefiting from the festival. Hotels and bed and breakfasts are generally choc-a-block but if you look around you might still get a bed! Over 30,000 people are expected this weekend and there should be a great buzz around town. “
Ms Russell is happy to confirm that although Kilkenny is experiencing recessionary times, comedy seems to be unaffected.
“It’s funny that comedy has maintained its popularity although we are in recession I s’pose it’s a sort of escapism for people. And of course the Cat Laughs is great value for money,” she added!
There are still tickets available for the shows so go along to the box office on Patrick St for tickets and remember if you hail from the south east - you get a discount!
