This much I know: Pat Shortt

I was a fairly outgoing child, I suppose, but a career in comedy was never really on the cards.

I grew up in Thurles in a family of twelve, with four younger than me. Dad was a schoolteacher and mum died when we were kids, so we have one step sister.

Music was always a big part of our lives. I started with traditional music and Irish dancing when I was just a kid, then in my teens I moved on to playing sax in various bands — first around Thurles and then further afield all over the country.

After school, I headed for Art College in Limerick, which is where I met Jon Kenny. He introduced me to the world of comedy and everything changed for me.

I lasted a year in college, and learnt a lot about the creative process, but left to work with Jon. I started out doing sound and lighting for the shows where he was definitely the star. I was only about 18 and he was 28 or so, and over the years I became part of his act and then we started writing material together in a more formal way which led to D’Unbelievables. When Jon fell ill, several years later, it was scary having to go solo as I was so used to being able to shelter behind someone else.

My comedy is character-based. I don’t tell a joke so much as perform it. What I do is based around creating an environment where my characters become alive and everyone, even the audience, feels they are part of it.

I’ve been filming Lance Daly’s new film Life’s a Breeze with Fionnula Flanagan for the last six weeks. I found making the switch to straight acting again, after spending so long doing comedy, very difficult for the first week or so.

I enjoy acting and comedy equally, although they are very different. Of course there is nothing like being on stage with 1,000 people laughing, when you are holding back and building the energy to the punch line and getting the response you want. But then again comedy can be very lonely, you spend a lot of time alone in your dressing room and miss the sense of collaboration that is part of working with a large cast.

My first paid job was washing pots in a hotel in Thurles. It’s a tough job, but I loved the dynamic of working in a kitchen with so many people.

I’m more conscious of having to look after my health now I’m in my 40s. I gave up smoking six years ago and I don’t drink as much as I used to since I gave up drinking red wine at home.

My big interest, outside of work, is my bar and restaurant, Pat Shortt’s in Castlemartyr. Everything is local — the fish is fresh off the boats and all the meat is free range. Live music is a big part of the place and I try to play there as much as I can.

I’m a hard worker but I’m not a workaholic. I’m good at planning what projects I am going to do and when.

I try not to worry too much, although I’m only human. I believe all creative people need to put mechanisms in place to avoid getting depressed. To be upbeat about the positives in life and not dwell on the negatives. When I’m feeling stressed about money, I sit down and plan the year out — even though I mightn’t have got all the work lined up yet.

Pat Shortt stars as the eponymous Garda Mattie Dwyer as he triumphantly returns, a newly-promoted uniformed Garda Sergeant, to his rural roots in the small village of Kilcommon in the new two part series of Sgt Mattie on RTÉ One, 17 & 26 December. The new D’Unbelievables DVD One Hell of a Do has just been released.