LAUGH? I almost bought a drink. After a year of relentless merry-making which included cackling at Kilkenny Cat Laughs and cracking up at Cork's Red Hot Festival, the final comedy festival of the year was launched at the old Trinners haunt of the Stag's Head in Dame Court last Tuesday night.
The man who was almost Gay, young Paddy Kielty from up North, took time out from his "hectic schedule" (you and me both, honey) to tell us all about the Murphy's Ungagged Comedy Festival which will be taking over the theatres and pubs of Dublin from November 11th to the 14th.
Despite having been "doing press" since 9 a.m. that morning and displaying a marked preference for holding a pint of Murphy's to clutching a microphone, the charming Kielty told us that he, the fab Ed Byrne and comic-turned-serious-novelist Ardal O'Hanlon would all be performing on different nights in the Olympia Theatre over the weekend. To be perfectly honest though, the comedy community in attendance, which included our favourite Don't Feed The Gondolas person, the lovely Dara O'Briain, the Edinburgh award winning David O'Doherty (wasn't he just brilliant on @ last tv during the week) and the winsome Deirdre O'Kane, seemed more impressed with the news that US comic Steven Wright would be flying over specially to do two shows. The excited gagsters told me that Wright is only one of the best performers in the world and apparently is Woody Allen's favourite comic. Gosh.
Also in attendance were the Laughter Lounge comedy supremo Peter O'Mahony and publicist Buzz O'Neill who were busy talking about an upcoming Irish tour by Johnny Vegas, a man who is famous for basing his whole routine around the workings of a pottery wheel. Pottery is the new rock 'n' roll, they solemnly assured me.
B.B.