Maeve Higgins says healing power of comedy is needed in tough times

On a recent visit to Iraq, Maeve Higgins realised how important comedy is to people in difficult situations, writes Ellie O’Byrne

“NO FAMILY has been left unscathed in Iraq, they’ve been through the ringer.”

A conversation with Maeve Higgins ends up in some unexpected places. The Cork comedian, who relocated to New York two years ago, was in Erbil in Iraq last month, doing a comedy workshop, and now she’s trying to wrap her head around the whole experience in order to write about it for the New York Times.