Clonmel set to be more than a barrel of laughs

The Rubberbandits, Pat Shortt and Edinburgh Festival-winner David O’Doherty are just three of the headline acts set to take to the stage later this month for the sixth Bulmers Comedy Festival in Clonmel.

Despite its relatively short history, the festival has seen O’Keeffe’s in Clonmel become “comedy central” for the four-day event with some of the sharpest and funniest comedians from this country, Britain and beyond heading to the Co Tipperary town for the four-day event.

Others set to feature from Nov 22 to 25 include Tom Stade, Patrick Monahan, Simon Evans, Alun Cochrane and Tony Law, with the full line-up including the cream of the comedy crop from Canada, Norway, the US and the UK.

According to festival director Fergal O’Keeffe, the organisers have “trawled the comedy circuit” in their now-annual search for the freshest, most current talent.

“We now have a reputation at the Edinburgh Fringe for breaking new talent, so this has enabled the festival to give Irish debuts to the likes of Sarah Millican, Lee Nelson, Patrick Monahan, Edinburgh Comedy Award winners Adam Riches (2011) and The Boy with Tape on his Face (2012),” he said. “We continue the tradition this year by giving debuts to the Edinburgh Best Newcomer Winner 2012, Norwegian Daniel Simonsen and Canadian comedian, Katherine Ryan.”

The festival will feature as usual the top people in Irish comedy with David McSavage, Colin Murphy, David O’Doherty, Karl Spain, Bernard O’Shea and many more all performing. The Rubberbandits will play a special midnight show on Friday, Nov 23, while Pat Shortt performs on Saturday, Nov 24, with his “new, old-fashioned” dance hall nostalgia-style show.

What is likely to be one of the most sought-after tickets is a solo show on Sunday, Nov 25 with Ireland’s Got Mammies comedy show creator Colm O’Regan — the man behind the @irishmammies Twitter account, with over 58,000 followers, and author of the just-published Isn’t it Well for Ye: The Book of Irish Mammies.

Marcus Goodwin of Bulmers said that Clonmel has become the home of great, stand-up comedy. “Having embraced comedy for many years, Bulmers is really proud of this particular sponsorship, in our home town. We’re looking forward to the brilliant line-up that will take over Clonmel this November, because with Bulmers and comedy, it really doesn’t get any better than that.”

Special day tickets for multiple shows are available at €30 with a limited number of weekend passes priced at €60.

* Festival box office is at Hearn’s Hotel or 052 6121611 and online at www.clonmelcomedy.com