In the second of our pre show natters we chat to Lorcan McGrane who has built his festival show around the concept of being a geek! Quite a random topic one might say….

So Lorcan where did you get the idea for the show?

Well, I suppose one of the themes running through my stand up overall is being a lonely geek so the idea of the show was to take all the geeky elements of my stand up sets and putting them together in a logical way, so the show starts with childhood stories of starting to realise I was attempting to deconstruct things like Disney records from an early age on to how being enthusiastic about comics, films, science fiction and gaming affects ‘real world’ things like learning to drive, job hunting and relationships (or lack thereof).

There was also the sense of being geeky as somehow cool now, and with supermodels and hunks claiming to be ‘geeks’ because they sense it is cool and they have maybe seen Star Wars once, and it was chance to comment on that from a perspective of someone who is passionate about this area irrespective of fashion.

So you want to defend the geeks of the world no matter what the cost, I hear you. Will you be taking the show on the road this year?

After the 6th and 7th of July, I will be doing the show as part of the Sunflowerfest up near Lisburn, Northern Ireland on the 17 August. I have done the show at the Belfast and Norwich Fringes but this is the first time doing it in Dublin. Each time I update it with new material. Then it will be on to developing the next hour, possible titles I’m toying around with are ‘Blank Inside’, ‘God Help Us All’ and ‘The Psychotronic Video Guide to Life’.

Lorcan McGrane

Nice titles! So this is your first time performing the show in Dublin, what are your thoughts on the 10 days in Dublin festival?

I can’t wait to do it, I remember seeing the brochures and reviews from last year’s festival and kicking myself that I hadn’t got in touch to try and do my show in it. Then during the year I did a spot at ‘The Death of Comedy’ at the Workman’s Club, and got to know the festival organiser Robert Kearns and took it from there. It’s a great opportunity to have festival experience like this in Dublin, and I’m looking forward to seeing as many of the other shows as I can.

OK Lorcan, it’s your time to shine. What’s your geekiest possession?

Oh there’s a few, I have a signed photo of Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap, Battlestar Galactica) where he says ‘to Lorcan, thanx’ although I was never sure for what he was thanking me, and also one of Nichelle Nichols (Uhura from Star Trek) where she says ‘to Lorcan, love Nichelle’, I later found out that this love was not genuine or legally binding and was merely a scribbled formality.

My favourite geeky possession though is a first edition American version of ‘Watchmen’ I got in second-hand bookshop in Galway for six old Irish punts circa 1988. I had it signed by artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Hughes at comic conventions. I constructed a bookmark from black ribbons with clock hands attached to the bottom of them and keep it in a special folder with news articles on the comic and film adaptation. It’s held together with masking tape from my frequent re-readings of it. Oh, and my VHS copy of Robocop, the first video I ever owned.

If you want to let you inner geek shine you can catch Lorcan on July 6th and 7th at Twisted Pepper for the small cost of €5. For more details and to check out the rest of the comedy programme, check out the 10 days in Dublin website here