Kyla Cobbler review: Laughs galore at Cork Opera House for homecoming
Kyla Cobbler is in the midst of a run at Cork Opera House. Picture: Dan Linehan
It takes a brave woman to schedule a show on the Cork Opera House stage on St Patrick’s Day, but not only did Kyla Cobbler’s opening night in Cork sell out, it was a riotous success.
A sea of green awaited Cobbler as she stepped on stage, with the bank holiday crowd already giddy after warm up laughs from John Meaghar and Chris Kent. While the crowd was leaning towards a female majority, there were no reluctant male plus-ones to be seen, with the lads bent over with laughter at everything from period jokes to tales of dating woes.
by Chappell Roan blared out as the Ballincollig comic arrived. “Do you think it’s a bit much? I feel like it’s a bit notions, I was kind of mortified about it,” she said, before turning her attention to the front rows of the crowd. Cobbler spent about 20 minutes bantering with some audience members about everything from their jobs to their relationships and it was a seamless back and forth, a masterclass in interaction.
She was particularly tickled to discover a woman from Kilkenny with her partner, a man from Chicago, in the crowd: “Look at you, Chicago and Kildare. Jesus Christ, there’s no bounds to my ticket sales.”
Not only was it a homecoming for the comedian, it was also a celebration: earlier this week Cobbler, who rose to viral fame on social media during the pandemic, announced a 3Arena gig for February 2027, just days after the sharing news that her memoir will be published in September this year.
The content of her set was clearly relatable to the audience in Cork, with the crowd shouting their agreement many times, making it feel like a perimenopausal panto. Shouts of ‘No!’ reassured Cobbler her discotheque opening was not filled with notions, while she was quickly corrected when she mispronounced one woman in the front row as Doreen instead of Noreen.
Of course, any local references were rewarded by whoops, not least a throwaway mention of Mangan’s nightclub. If that doesn’t put an age range on her audience, her much-cheered promise of being finished early enough for everyone to get home to take some magnesium and get into bed early certainly did.
“It's been a great year, and I'm so happy to be home,” she told the audience.
Her recent gig and book news comes in the wake of an engagement to her partner Simon, which she described hilariously during her show. Cobbler also touched upon her life as an emigrant, dating tales, family drama, and everything in between. She is a star continuing to rise and it’s a joy to see.
- Kyla Cobbler continues a sell-out run of her Not My Lemons tour in Cork Opera House until Friday, March 20. Tickets for her 3Arena show on February 26, 2027 go on sale this Friday. Her memoir is published on September 1
