Northern Irish laughter

Sean Hegarty
Hello and welcome to the 1st blog on the comedyireland website showcasing,?all that is, Northern Irish laughter.

This week saw comedy fans in Norn Iron spoilt for choice as gigs were?thrown about like flowers at Princess Goody’s funeral. First off was the?Empire in Belfast, a weekly event held, funnily enough in the Empire at?Botanic featuring the best in UK and Irish talent with an open spot to?boot. I got my chance this week and grabbed the oppertunity with both?hands, being introduced by the brilliant MC Jake O’Kane (BBC The Blame?Game), also meeting legends Adam Bloom and Jason Manford in the process.

Empire Belfast (Every Tuesday Night 8.30pm)?42 Botanic Ave.

www.thebelfastempire.com

Thursday night saw the return of The Vintage Laughs in the Vintage Bar,?Lurgan (Co. Armagh), which featured stand-up sets from Adam Loughlin,?Shane Todd, Seamus Fox, Gary Croft, Pete Maxwell and Headliner George?Quinn (Jam or Mustard), performing to an intimate crowd.

The Vintage Laughs @ The Vintage Bar (1st Thurs Every Month 9.30pm)?Church Place, Lurgan

bebo.com/VintageBarOpenMic

Blick Studios, Malone Rd, Belfast played host to a new panel quiz show on?Sunday night, hosted by feile fm’s Shane Todd, featuring team-captains?Diarmuid Corr & Paddy McGaughey and local comedians, Micky Bartlett,?Graeme Watson, Stacey Meade and myself with warm-up coming from Simon?McCullough. The idea was put together by Shane himself, a comedian from?Holywood in Co. Down (Not The US) focusing around local and international?news and the comics bizarre twists on each story. In attendance was Jackie?Hamilton, head of BBC Comedy NI.

The Pavillion hosted its fortnightly Comedy Club on Monday 06th April with?Lorcin McGrane occupying the Headline spot after Jason O’Neill’s?successful spell in March. Other acts on the night were Stacey Meade?bringing the house down as Patty S, Graeme Watson, Shane Todd, Matthew?Collins mixing Rocky & Baywatch and Seamus Fox raising his profile with a?hilarious poem and set.

The Pavillion – Big Laughs At The Big House (Weekly from April 20th 9pm)?Ormeau Rd Belfast?www.nicomedy.com

Until next week, holla bitches and keep supporting live comedy,

Sean Hegarty xx

(Dec: apology’s for the long loading time on the podcast file, it was a larger file size than we expected, it’s worth the wait though.)