Al Porter: 'We judge ourselves by our intentions, but we judge other people by their actions'

Ahead of his latest tour, Al Porter joins Noel Baker in West Cork to talk mistakes, ‘living his amends’, and the sanctuary of stand-up

Al Porter in West Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Not for the first time, Al Porter is riffing on a memory. “I found this clip of me on Gerry Ryan when I was 12,” he says, going a mile a minute as he recalls one of his earliest roles in a childhood production of Bugsy Malone.

“I listened to it in the car the other day, and Brenda Donohue says, ‘Gerry, I’ve got a young man here from Tallaght, he’s 12 years old, his name is Alan Kavanagh, and he’s playing the part of Knuckles. Say good morning, Gerry.’