Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

A quick look at ‘Make Me Laugh’ organiser, Dean Scurry’s, twitter profile shows he is a very busy man

I do stand up comedy, I run workinclassrecords.com, I produce and present Dole TV, I co-produce ‘HipNós’

So we were delighted when he agreed to make time in his schedule to chat to us about the upcoming gig in the Axis Theatre Ballymun!

 

 

 

First of Dean, thanks for chatting to us, you seem to be a multi-tasking master! Make me Laugh is all about showcasing the talents of a group of new comedians whom you have helped learn their craft, did you receive any similar support in the early days of your stand-up comedy career?

Ye from Des bishop, when we made Joy in da hood in Ballymun

That must have been quite an experience, did this encourage you to set up the workshops or was there another source of motivation for taking that plunge?

A bit from the experience with Des, from Aidan Killian, from making Journey of a joke with DCTV and also from axis Ballymun. I also wanted to take things back to backs with the comedy club In Ballymun

Ah yes, I remember the characters you discovered in that set of workshops earlier in 2012 , which was aired on DCTV, why did you choose not to record this in the same way?

Been there done that, also that type of thing costs money to do correctly, this project is also for a different purpose, to get comedy in the club in Ballymun back to basics after 5 years of having all the top acts in the country play there numerous times. We spoilt the locals a bit.

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With Joan Rivers playing Vicar Street this week I’ve had female comedians on the brain so when I came across this ‘interview’ with Sarah Millican I simply had to share it

 

Boy can the lady natter away eh? Needless to say I wasn’t surprised to see she had her own show on BBC2 all about her favourite tv programmes….

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The ABSOLUT Fringe festival begins this weekend and with a wide and varied programme of events including comedy, spoken word and theatre there is sure to be something for everyone. I spoke to the festival director Róise Goan about what to expect from this year’s festival and to see just how important it is to have a comedy element in such a big festival.

 

Hi Róise, so it’s your 4th year as Director of the Fringe Festival, how does it feel?

Great. it’s still as exciting and nerve-wracking as ever.

 

The programme is an ambitious one, how difficult is it choose the shows?

My team and I work year round to make the festival happen, so a lot of the work we are presenting this year is over a year in the making. It’s a really enjoyable process curating the work in the festival; seeing shows, meeting artists  and reading proposals and texts throughout the year.  ABSOLUT Fringe aims to be at the heart of a conversation between artists and audiences, so it’s really important to keep diversity of the audience in mind when I’m programming.

 

What’s the aim behind the festival?

ABSOLUT Fringe is all about what’s new and what’s next in the performing arts. We present theatre, music, dance, comedy, visual art, circus and spectacle that’s on the cutting edge, and speaks to the people of Dublin about their experiences and interests.

 

From a comedy perspective, it is wide and varied, was this intentional?

Yes. We’re especially excited to have Dead Cat Bounce return to their theatrical roots with their new comedy play CLOWNS. This is the first play that they have presented at ABSOLUT Fringe and we’re very excited to see what they have produced.

 

 

 

How important is it to have a comedy element in the festival?

Very important.  After taking a few years off from comedy, I’m really glad to have brought it back into the programme over the past few years. We present comedy that’s innovative and different from the mainstream fare audiences are likely to encounter at commercial festivals.

 

With so many other festivals going on this year, what makes the ABSOLUT Fringe stand out?

This is where you’ll see the next big thing, first. You wont get that at other festivals, at least not the same volume as we stage at ABSOLUT Fringe.

 

If there was one thing you could tell the people of Dublin about the festival what would it be?

As above: This is where you’ll see the next big thing, first. Book Now at  www.fringefest.com as most shows sell out and you’ll be sorry to miss them here first

 

And finally Róise, have you any personal recommendations from the comedy programme yourself?

Rubberbandits present their Edinburgh show in Meeting House Square for one night only on Sat 22nd, Abie Philbin Bowman’s new show, The Revolution Will Be Televised ReTweeted & Available on 40d, CLOWNS, Lords of Strut are doing their first indoor theatre show and comedy fans should totally check out Ponydance’s Straight to DVD.

 

So there you have it, there is a wide and varied programme during this years ABSOLUT festival. To check out the comedy (and of course the rest of the programme!) head on over to the website here and don’t forget to book your tickets early or you might just be disappointed!

 

The first ever Irish Musical Comedy club opens its doors for business this Thursday for the first time. A brave venture some might say? I sat down with Sharyn Hayden, the driving force behind the club to talk to her about club and musical comedy in general.

 

Hi Sharyn, so Fandora opens on Thursday. Are you excited?

Trillt!! It’s great to get back to gigging full-time – the first night coincides with Jacob’s 1^st birthday so it marks yet another chapter! I know I’ve gigged a little bit here and there but this feels more like ‘officially’ getting back to work! There’s also a new website that I’m going to plug even regardless of it being nothing to do with the question that you just asked: www.sharynhaydencomedy.com

 

Haha! That’s perfectly alright! Seems like a significant night with a lot to look forward to. Tell us the idea behind it?

The Irish Musical Comedy Awards had such a great response and great feedback this year that I felt I had to continue to support musical comedy. It’s my absolute love anyway, and to find that other performers out there feel the same way was, firstly, a surprise, and secondly, the catalyst for opening a club dedicated solely to the genre. I’m also a humongous exhibitionist, so I have to get on stage!

 

So a meeting of minds you might say? You’re background is in Burlesque, can we expect some surprises on the night?

If you are not expecting to see a comedy host in her underwear, then yes, you will be surprised ;o)

 

 

Hmm I guess we shall be prepared then….You obviously think that Ireland has a big enough musical comedy scene….what would you say to people who disagree?

Shrugs shoulders

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Cormac Moore is a newbie to the comedy scene. It’s a courageous step for any young man to take. He also runs a website called Headcase.ie which celebrated its first birthday recently. He is planning a brave campaign which involves delivering a certain product to the Dáil, I caught up with Cormac recently to talk comedy, being a Headcase and his new campaign.

 

Hi Cormac, so my first question would have to be what made you want to get into comedy?

The money

But seriously, it was always a distant thought at the back of my mind. It’s something that I’ve always said I’d love to do, so I finally got the finger out.

 

How did it happen?

Getting into comedy?! I rang up Tony Ferns from the Battle of the Axe and threw my name down for an open spot. One of the scariest decisions I’ve ever made. Scarier in fact than the first gig was actually making the decision to do it.

 

You also run Headcase.ie, is that something you wanted to do for a long time?

Em, not a long time no. I’ve been doing that for a year now and it’s going well. There’s a couple of people writing for it aswell so it’s expanding slowly too with is good. It kinda evolved from other work/ideas that I was doing at the time and the name was suggested to me by a friend of mine when we were trying to figure out what the site and the look and feel would be about.

 

So what’s your definition of the perfect Headcase?

Richard Branson!!

 

Would you consider yourself a comedian or web developer (or both?)

Definitely not a web developer – I’m lucky in that my friends are web developers who can help me with the techie side of things. Although I’d know enough buzz words from the field of IT to make me sound like prick to IT people and non IT people too.

I’m still earning my stripes as a comedian too.

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