Pat and Faye Shortt on father-daughter show and 'slagging each other off'
Pat and Faye Shortt will appear at The Sugar Club on Tuesday, February 25.
Faye Shortt always had a notion that her father was different.
“There wasn’t a moment as such,” says the 26-year-old actor and comedian.
“I figured it out in primary school when people would tell me they saw him on the tele. Social Media wasn’t a thing back then so I’d only see him on TV now and then and didn’t think anything of it.”
It wasn't until a family holiday that the penny really dropped as to the scale and scope of his career.
“I remember we were in Portugal and you were maybe 15 at the time,” says Pat.
“You were watching Father Ted and there was a scream from the bedroom: ‘Dad you’re in this!’ It was an episode from maybe ten years before. So I remember having a bit of a chat with them about it then.
"I had never really told the kids about it and I wouldn’t be watching myself on TV. You move on to the next job and forget about it.”
At around the same time, Faye was attending drama classes. Though it was evident that talent ran in the family, she intended to steer firmly clear from following in her father’s footsteps.
“I didn’t have it down on my CAO as first choice,” says Faye.
“I think I was leaning more towards a degree in Business but it was my Mum who said I could pursue acting as a career. I was only 18 and wasn’t so sure because Dad was so good at it. That was his thing.
"I thought I’d be putting myself under pressure. But I started going for auditions and I realised how much I enjoyed it. When I got accepted to drama college that confirmed it.”
“I never encouraged it to be honest,” says Pat.
“The main reason being that I wasn’t around that much because I was always off touring. It wasn’t until I saw her doing a show at the end of her drama school that I saw how good she was.”
After four years at the Gaiety School of Acting, Faye was all set to give it a go among the bright lights and glamour of London’s West End. Then COVID struck.
“We were stuck at home with each other and started doing sketches,” says Pat.
“There was nothing else to do and for a writer you need to keep those creative wheels turning. So we sat down, did some writing, performed a few sketches and threw them up online to see what would happen. I was only looking back on them there the other day and I have to say some of them were really good.”
Good enough to give people much-needed comic relief from endless lockdowns and the dad-and-daughter duo a bit of a name online. With restrictions lifted and the itch to appear on stage needing a good scratch, they decided they would take to the road, tour their material and see what happened.
“I was putting a live show together and I asked Faye if she wanted to be a part of it,” says Pat.
“For the first year, I think live audiences weren’t sure what to make of it but it was great and I was enjoying working with Faye and being part of a double act again.” The numbers speak for themselves. Their most recent show, Knuckle Down, has sold out up and down the country. Luckily, those who can’t find tickets will have an opportunity to see them in Dublin at the end of February.
The pair are partnering with Specsavers, for a special one-off performance to shine a spotlight on presbyopia, a common eye condition that usually affects people over 40. Presbyopia is the gradual loss of the ability to focus on nearby objects and is a natural part of ageing.
According to new research carried out by Specsavers, more than 84% of Irish people over 35 experience symptoms of presbyopia, despite over half believing their eyesight is good.
The research also found holding text at arm’s length to read it, increasing the font size on a mobile phone and turning on the big light to read were some of the most common behaviours people adopted to compensate for a change in their vision.
It’s those coping mechanisms that Pat and Faye have crafted into a sketch for a one-off performance, taking place on Tuesday 25th February in The Sugar Club, Dublin.
“A lot of what we do in the show involves slagging each other off,” says Pat.
“And of course, a lot of that is age-related, uses the age gap between us as a kind of vehicle. So I think this was a perfect fit. We’ve worked on material to bring this condition into the show. It’s great to work with Specsavers on this and the fact that all the proceeds are going to Focus Ireland is a bonus.”
“He’s a divil for the flashlight in the restaurants,” says Faye.
Of course, this is not Pat’s first comedy partnership. The Tipp native first came to prominence as one of the D’Unbelivables, a riotous comedy duo made up of himself and Jon Kenny who passed away in November last year.
“It was a huge shock,” says Pat. “I was only talking to him a week beforehand. He was doing very well. He was back working. He was still dealing with health issues but working.
"Contrary to what everyone thinks, it wasn’t the cancer that got him in the end, it was the heart. It’s hard to believe. I miss him a huge lot.
"He was a legend, the funniest guy I ever met. He was a friend of the family. Faye grew up in his house, sure. We would have been over there all the time. We lived in each other’s ears for 16 years.”
After a hiatus in the noughties, D’Unbelievables reunited for a nationwide tour in 2010. When it ended in April of the following year, the recurring question from the media was, would it happen again.
“The press kept asking us if we’d get back together and I think people thought there was some kind of tension between the two of us and there just wasn’t,” says Pat.
“People had these notions about what was going on. And then people would be making comparisons about who was funnier and stuff like that. Jon was more manic and I was the straight guy in the act. You can’t both be manic. You’re offering a different dynamic. You have to have that balance. All good double acts have it.”
As for this double act, the Irish tour continues until the end of April before jetting off to Scotland and then onto Australia and New Zealand. All going well, there’s the promise of seeing more from the dad and daughter duo very soon.
“We’re writing already for a new show,” says Pat, “Faye has her own thing going on TikTok and social media and that’s going great and she’s working on radio and podcasting too. I have some theatre dates coming up later in the year.
"So we’re keeping busy. It’s nice to have the break because you come back to it with more energy and enthusiasm.”
As long as that keeps happening, audiences are sure to keep coming back for more.
- Pat & Faye Shortt appear at The Sugar Club on Tuesday 25 February. Tickets are €10, with all proceeds going to Focus Ireland. Get yours now at www.thesugarclub.com – limited availability (18+).
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