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Oliver Callan entertainment company reports €600,000 profits

Satirist made a profit of €178,000 last year and was owed over €52,000

Oliver Callan’s entertainment company made an annual profit of €178,000 last year. (Photograph: Collins Courts)

Darragh Mc Donagh
Fri Jun 30 2017 - 13:54

The entertainment company owned by satirist and impersonator Oliver Callan has reported accumulated profits of more than €600,000 in accounts just filed to the Companies Office.

Callan, the talent behind hit shows Nob Nation and Callan’s Kicks, is the sole shareholder of Catchy Title Limited; which was set up in 2012. His sister, Áine Callan (25) is also a director of the firm.

Newly filed accounts show that the company increased its accumulated profits by €178,000 to €604,904 last year, while its cash pile grew by €60,247 to stand at €297,735 at the end of 2016.

The Monaghan performer has enjoyed notable success in recent years through the satirical sketch show, Callan's Kicks, on RTÉ Radio. A television spin-off of the show followed in 2014.

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Callan (36) has toured the country with live-show adaptations of his material, as well as writing as a columnist for a number of national newspapers. He has also appeared in adverts for major brands such as Lidl and Paddy Power.

The popular impersonator originally studied journalism and began his career as a newsreader with Today FM before landing a role impersonating Enda Kenny on the radio station's sketch series, Gift Grub.

Accounts for Catchy Title Limited show that the company made an annual profit of €178,000 last year, and was owed a total of €52,512 by debtors of the firm. Neither of the directors drew a salary during 2016.

Callan's acerbic brand of satire and talent for mimicry has occasionally caused controversy and complaints over the portrayal of characters, including former Taoisigh Brian Cowen and Enda Kenny, and GAA star Paul Galvin.

In 2008, Callan created a number of radio advertisements for the Jack and Jill Foundation, which featured authorised impersonations of soccer pundit Eamon Dunphy and Senator David Norris.

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) subsequently censured the advertisements, which it claimed were homophobic and promoted binge drinking.

In an interview about his finances published in the Sunday Times in 2014, Callan said that there had been “some very lean years” after leaving journalism for comedy in the last year of the boom.

“There were no gigs or corporate bookings and even voice-overs for ads had disappeared... It’s started to come back for me in the past two years,” he said.

“Everybody spends their lives worrying about the future - until they have none. I try not to worry [about money] too much; I take the view that I won’t starve and everything will be fine.

“If entertainment collapses, there’s always bars, farms, and a bit of odd-jobbing to be done,” he added.

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