Johnny Vegas set for Dublin Writers Festival

One of Britain’s most famous comedians (or his alter ego, Johnny Vegas, that is) will be in conversation with the comedy actress and writer Pauline McLynn as part of the Dublin Writers Festival next week.

It promises to be a riveting discussion. “My name is Michael Pennington and I am not a comic character,” reads the first line of his autobiography, Becoming Johnny Vegas, which tells a remarkable story about the comic’s dual identity.

Pennington, who is married to Irish producer and broadcaster Maia Dunphy, had an idyllic childhood in St Helens, Merseyside until, aged 10, he decided on a whim to join the priesthood. He emerged from the seminary, a den of mice and molestation, a year later a confused boy. Insecure and unable to mix properly, he began to nurture his ballsy, loudmouth stage alter ego, Johnny Vegas, which wowed the British comedy circuit for almost 20 years until he recently retired.