JOE ROONEY: Children’s comedy festival takes first steps
You would think it’s easy to play for laughs to a room full of children. Joe Rooney — one of the comics on the bill at this weekend’s Funny Fest, in Dublin’s Temple Bar, which is Ireland’s first comedy festival for children — says this isn’t the case.
“The first time I played a comedy gig for children was in Glasgow, one morning. There were three acts on, and I’ve never seen acts so nervous as they were going on to do a gig for kids. Kids are very honest. They’re not going to laugh at bits that aren’t funny. Some adult audiences might be a bit nice to you, and let you away with things, but kids aren’t going to do that. If they don’t like you, they won’t just sit there, they will say it. They might put their hand up first, and then say, ‘You’re not very funny’,” Rooney says.
