Joanne McNally: 'I have nothing to tie me down — I want to crack the States'

The comedian tells all each week in her hit podcast. Her latest admission? Her plan to break America, writes Vickie Maye

Comedian Joanne McNally admits she overshares and has "no boundaries". Picture: Kieran Harnett

Joanne McNally is sharing an anecdote about her mum. I’m nodding along, laughing. The story builds to its punchline. “That’s so Pat,” I shriek, shaking my head knowingly.

Except I don’t know Joanne McNally’s mum. I wouldn’t recognise her if she was standing beside me.

It is the strangest thing interviewing one of Ireland’s best-known comedians, and one who chooses to spill the entire contents of her life out on a podcast twice a week.

My Therapist Ghosted Me reaches some 3.5m listeners per month — and Joanne and Vogue’s live show has filled Dublin’s 3Arena five times over.

My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast by Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally

It’s a lot of people to share your life with. How does she cope when complete strangers, like me, know that she’s lost her AirPods... again. Or that her mum throws a mean barbecue. And then there’s the deeper life stuff, like the breakdown of a relationship.

“I over share,” she says simply. “I’m always that person at a party, squaring you off at a window. I have no boundaries.” 

Her dynamic with Vogue sees her pitched as the chaotic one, the girl who can’t unpack her suitcase, or keep reins on designer sunglasses, or an overpriced water bottle.

Yet she walks into Boots’ first destination store on Cork’s Half Moon Street Amazonian in stature. She’s tall, and it’s not just down to the towering platform heels. Her Nasty Gal blazer, with hot pink fringing, comes courtesy of styling by Corina Gaffey. Make up and hair are flawless. This is not the tomboy we’ve come to expect from her podcast.

"When I was younger I wasn't that bothered, I was boy mad but I was a tomboy," she says.

“As a comic you do bits of TV here and there and you get to express yourself more. On stage it’s the same thing. You wear the jumpsuit, run it into ground, get another jumpsuit. It’s like school, you don’t have to think about it. But the more you work you get, then you get the glammy jobs. And you scrub up well,” she laughs.

Newwww york ! 🥲 https://t.co/NHlVP4QuSy

— Joanne McNally (@jomcnally) October 12, 2024

As listeners to the podcast know, McNally is just back from touring America, a country I’m guessing she’s anxious to break.

She’s pauses for a moment, as if she’s unsure. And then she laughs “I mean… yeah I want to break the States. I feel I got settled in London, just got gang of friends. But I’m 41, I have no kids, no husband. So I probably will. You know what, I like the hustle.”

Is it an itch she feels she has to scratch?

“America? The kids? The husband?” All three I venture.

“The guy no, there’s no interest for me.” And children? Yes she says, just let her give birth to a five year old so she can skip the hard bits.

“My next tour is Ireland and the UK. Then I’ll see. I have nothing to tie me down and there are pros and cons to that. If that is going to be my life the approach has to be to try and go and crack the States.” 

Her comedy crosses all demographics, and she laughs when I tell her my 19 year old is a fan.

“I am shocked how young these girls are,” she says when she describes looking out at her podcast audience from the live show stage.

“When I was younger I remember Vanessa Feltz — any woman who shows resilience, independence, doesn’t get married, have kids, do what everyone else does.

Comedian Joanne McNally and Davina Devine launch the new Boots store on Half Moon Street, Cork

“When you’re younger that’s interesting, like, what does that life look like? And if it looks nice, then I have options.”

McNally is in Cork to launch Boots’ first destination store (Boots managing director Stephen Watkins
describes it as “the first-ever ‘best of Boots’” in Ireland or the UK).

McNally knows the county well. Her mum is from Cork, and her family are still here, from Ballincollig to Clonakilty.

Her plan post this event?

“I like that bar next to the Everyman. Or the ones just down from the Montenotte, in that triangle.” So she likes a more traditional Irish pub?

“Yes,” she agrees. “I’m an old man in my soul.”

And with that she’s gone, ready to take on Cork. Watch this space. America won’t be too far behind.