Is there a wickedly funny stand-up comedian hiding in your , wishing you could ditch the day job and become a sitcom writer? Aspiring satirists and sketch writers can now log on to a new RT╔ comedy website to woo the entertainment department with their talent.
The cream of comedy talent gather in the upstairs bar of the Gaiety for the launch of RT╔'s new online comedy resource, Raw Talent (www.rte.ie/rawtalent).
The brainchild of Billy McGrath, commissioning editor in the entertainment department, Raw Talent is a new interactive forum for people to submit comedy ideas to RT╔ for feedback. Canadian-born Peter Vamos is the script editor who'll be offering words of encouragement to young and not so young hopefuls.
Comedy duo Joe Rooney and Paul Tylak, who plays Ashti in Fair City, greet the audience before Cathal Goan, RT╔ director of television, imparts a few prescient words: "We've been condemned for our inability to engage with Irish comedy in the past but Raw Talent is evidence of RT╔'s commitment to bringing forward Irish talent."
Most of the cast of Bull Island is here. Paiki O'Callaghan and Alan Shortt, aka Charlie McCreevy and Bertie Ahern, are chatting in the corner. Other show members, Peter McEvoy, Gary Flood and Michelle Costello are here too. The website previews one of RT╔'s new comedy pilots, the Jason Byrne Show, while the comedian himself mingles.
Sue Collins, Anne Gildea and Josie O'Reilly of The Nualas, currently preparing for the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, are also present.