Posts Tagged ‘The Rubberbandits’

Now we know you’ve already checked out the line up yourselves but in case you’re suffering from indecision we’ve decided to help you out with our pick of the bunch!

In an ideal world we’d obviously love to see ALL the comedians perform but since we can’t be everywhere at once (and can’t afford all those tickets!) this would be our wish list…

Wednesday 24th Tommy Tiernan @ Taibhdhearc 8pm – start as you mean to go on with a performance from comedies prodigal son!

Thursday 25th Tony Law- Maximum Noise, Benny Boot, Danny Dowling, Colin Murphy @ Kelly’s 8pm – with a collection of comedians like that it’s bound to be an off-the-wall fun time!

Thursday 25th The Ruberbandits @ The Róisín Dubh 11.59pm – sod the fact that there’s work in the morning

Read the rest of this entry »

Like table quizzes? Love comedy? Then jump for joy as once again Jarlath Regan combines the two in a fun night of Standup & Answers!

The original fusion of comedy and table quiz, Standup & Answers, returns to The Sugar Club on Friday October 19th. Featuring hilarious rounds of trivia and head scratching comedy from more than a dozen acts including The Rubber Bandits, be sure to arrive early on the night to grab your table. Tickets are €12 per person and also give you access to the exclusive after party club. Click “join” to find out about more special guests as they added to the bill.

We can tell you that Matthew Smyth, Willa White, Chris Kent & Patrick Mc Donnell are all due to make an appearance so there’s definitely a fun line-up on  the cards!

Don’t have a handy group of like-minded friends to bring along as a team? Fear not Jarlath has an answer to that too…

Do you want to go to the show but are afraid that you won’t have a team. Here’s a page where people with the same fear have joined forces. Have look. Or just come down on the night and stop worrying. http://www.meetup.com/Comedy-Comedy/events/76476232/

So all that’s left to do is ‘join’ the event on facebook and get studying in preparation for Friday!

Where: The Sugar Club

When: Friday 19th Oct 2012

Time: 8pm

Cost €12 (includes access to after party)

Standing in a 300 person queue on Essex Street waiting to see The Rubberbandits, I found myself wondering how they have become so popular. Of course, like the rest of the nation, I enjoyed the well-produced ‘Horse Outside’ but I have always found it difficult to appreciate their sketches on RTE and have not heard very much of their other material. It’s safe to say I was not filled with excitement; did the Limerick duo surprise me?

To start, we were treated to an all-too-long sound-check from Pop Céilí, the support act for the night. Complete with three vocalists, drums, bass, guitar, accordion and fiddle; the band played a selection of classic and contemporary pop hits with an Irish twist. Despite some frustrating sound imbalances, the set was quite enjoyable. Throwback hits such as 2unlimited’s ‘No limit’, Mark Morrison’s ‘Return of the Mack’ made me feel particularly old but recent hits which included a mash-up of Azealia Banks’ ‘212’ and Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ let me feel comfortably current. The set was punchy & enjoyable overall and made for a good start to the proceedings.

After a brief stage set-up, DJ Willie O’ DJ introduced us to Blindboy Boat Club and Mr. Chrome. The lads took to the stage with great energy and got right into the set. Although I was not familiar with most of the songs, it was very easy to enjoy the set. A whiteboard above the stage carried visual cues that ran in sync with the music and this visual element helped the audience keep up with the frantically paced raps. In between songs, the two lads exchanged banter with each other and explained the origins of the songs they were performing. These segments made for some hilarious one-liners and even let slip that the two Limerick natives are deceptively intelligent and articulate.

The set was rife with strong production quality. Despite the modest set-up, the show was well choreographed and tightly performed. Satirist elements made for some of the more memorable moments of the set; ‘Up the Ra’ saw a small group of balaclava wearing percussionists come on stage to accompany the lads and some skits involving Willie O’DJ were hilarious.

While there was no traditional stand-up moments in the set, The Rubberbandits delivered a good comedy show. The beats were excellent and despite the exaggerated Limerick accents, the guys can rap seriously well. Fans of their music would certainly enjoy the show and even casual observers may not be able to resist the allure of well-performed, witty Limerick rap.

It’s Monday and you’re not fit to go anywhere after the weekend so what do you do? Take out the RTE Guide and start planning your t.v. for the evening, but today there’s something missing from the listings…. The Republic of Telly and The Savage Eye have both vanished from our screens again!

I’m sure something will take their place soon enough but, in the mean time, I thought it would be fun to take a second look at some of the funny moments these shows have brought us over their last season. I hope you enjoy rewatching them too

Brendogg and Bolsak

Rose of Tralee

Damo & Ivor

Showing Affiction

The Rubberbandits

Form filling

Here’s hoping the lads find even funnier material for the new seasons. In the mean time there’s good news on the tv comedy front… they’ve got a classic episode of Father Ted on RTE2 tonight at 9pm, that’s my tv viewing sorted so!

Thanks to the hard work of Sharyn Hayden, Wednesday 25th April 2012 will now go down in the history books, as the first ever Irish Music Comedy Awards! I was lucky enough to get to experience the night firsthand and it was a blast

When I heard the venue changed at the last-minute I did struggle to visualise how 4 Dame Lane would work for this event but, as soon as I walked in, I really liked the feel of the venue. It turns out they’ve far more space upstairs than my previous visit led me to believe and it was pretty well laid out to accommodate the crowd and comedians! The only thing that was really lacking was a back stage area, which meant the finalists were sitting among the punters until it was time to get on stage. I personally quite liked this, as it meant each of the contestants had an opportunity to get a proper feel for their audience and, of course, they also got a great view of their competition performing!

Sharyn Hayden and the Judges

The three judges (Marty Miller, Amanda Brunker, Paddy Cullivan) obviously got the best seats in the house, right beside the stage, but they were cleverly placed so they didn’t block the audience’s view of each act. They also didn’t comment, Britains Got Talent style, after each act which meant the night felt more like a comedy gig rather than a ‘typical’ awards ceremony. For me this gave the evening a sense of being about supporting all Irish musical comedy not about pitting comedians against each other or seeking out their weaknesses and I think that was a big positive of the event.

Our host for the evening was the charismatic Fred Cooke, who did an admirable job of keeping the audience on side when anything started to go slightly awry, and of course there were a few mishaps along the way, it was the first event of its kind afterall! Fred managed to deal with a few hiccups in his script and various delays while some of the acts set up very well. I think Fred was a good choice of host, he interacted well with the crowd and they had a lot of fun with his material, especially once he pulled out his guitar.  It certainly wasn’t the easiest crowd to keep on side, but Fred managed to end the night as he started, with his energy and enthusiasm remaining largely undampened, even in spite of some of the crowd getting pretty restless as we approached the final few acts.

The acts themselves got a mixed reaction from the crowd, but that was inevitable with 12 different contestants, a comedian MC and 2 guest performances, everyone was not going to enjoy them all! Each of the acts did manage to make me laugh in some way during their slot though and I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of musical comedy talent that made it to the final. In case you’ve forgotten who they all were, in order of performance on the night;

Read the rest of this entry »