The Sky TV network will be sponsoring this year's Cat Laughs comedy festival in Kilkenny.
At a launch in London’s Groucho Club last night, many of this year’s performers were on hand to toast the new deal.
Roscommon actor and now Hollywood star Chris O'Dowd will be one of the main guests over the June bank holiday weekend, with appearances also by Dylan Moran and Kevin Bridges and a special stand-up show in Irish by Tyrone comicKevin McAleer.
The Sky Cat Laughs festival runs from Thursday, May 30th, to June 3rd and with a new festival director in place, Naoise Nunn, it has had a makeover for this its 19th year.
"The Best Little Comedy Festival In The World", according to the Guardian newspaper, will feature a range of Irish and international talent alongside a mini children's comedy festival and appearances by old-school comics Jimmy Cricket and Sil Fox.
O'Dowd will be in Kil- kenny to premiere the first two episodes of the sec ond series of his acclaimed comedy series, Moone Boy , three months ahead of their TV transmission.
A strong Irish line-up is headed up by Barry Murphy with appearances also by Neil Delamere, David O'Doherty and Andrew Maxwell.
Tyrone native and ex- Nighthawk s star McAleer has recently been learning Irish and will be performing exclusively in Irish during the festival.
