19 minute read
Joanne McNally
FIZZICAL WORKOUT
As she takes Ireland by storm with her sell-out Prosecco Express tour, Joanne McNally discusses her anxieties around fame, and keeping comedy “as open and as controversial as it possibly can be.” INTERVIEW LUCY O’TOOLE
With disarmingly charming irreverence, an acclaimed podcast, and eight years of hard graft on the gigging circuit to her name, Joanne McNally has stepped out as an unconquerable force in Irish comedy.
Tapping into the concerns of a generation of 30-somethings – while simultaneously channelling the spirit of the mouthy young one at the back of every all-girls classroom in the country – the Killiney-raised stand-up’s fearlessly frank approach has resonated with audiences on both sides of the Irish Sea. And now, after the better chunk of a decade in the stand-up game, serious success has come knocking, with two million podcast downloads every month, a newly announced book deal, and phenomenal ticket sales for her ongoing Irish and UK tour, The Prosecco Express.
It kicked off in January with no fewer than thirty sold-out nights in Vicar Street and runs in fits and spurts right up to Christmas.
But it’s all just part of the job for Joanne who reckons that people’s surprise over the number of nights she’s performing largely comes down to gender.
“I guess because I’m female, maybe it’s more shocking?” she reflects. “Whereas Des Bishop has done like 41 – I think he has the record. It just seems stranger when a woman does it. Apparently some lad asked my mother, ‘What’s she going to do when she gets up there?’As if I had no plan. Like I was going to go up there and do a movement to music. No, I’m going to read poems! Do some spoken word for an hour…”
As she notes, she’s “been doing this for years” – progressing from small stages to sold-out tours, star-studded chat shows, and a slew of TV appearances.
That being said, Joanne is human – and despite her audacious stage persona, like countless other comedians and performers, adrenaline and jitters all come into play before a show.
“I still get nervous when I do gigs,” she reveals. “It just depends on what’s at stake. I could be doing a small gig but I know the booker is watching me, to see if he’s going to book me again. I’ve a constant issue with my adrenaline levels. They’re in a constant state of flux.
“To be honest, if I didn’t get nervous, it would be a problem,” she continues. “The nerves and the adrenaline is your body telling you that you’re about to do something you care about, so wake up. I find myself yawning a lot before gigs, which I couldn’t understand before. I was like, ‘Why am I so tired?’ But then I read that it was actually my body knowing I’m going to do something that demands attention. It’s your body trying to take in oxygen and stuff.
Plenty of comics get hooked on that adrenaline rush.
“I’ve enough addictions, to be honest!” she laughs. “It’s probably one of them, that I haven’t really identified as one. But there’s certainly something about it. It’s progressive – you can very much see and track your progress, which is addictive. Before, when I worked in PR, you couldn’t see your progress as much. Whereas with this, it’s like weight loss, in a weirder, healthier way. That’s what I used to be addicted to – losing weight. Now my addiction is progressing in comedy.”
Joanne’s experiences with eating disorders is something she’s been refreshingly open about, in both interviews and as the central focus of her first one-woman show, Bite Me. In fact, letting people into her personal life has always been a key feature of her comedy, whether she’s tackling heavy issues or the comparatively trivial. “I just say whatever’s going
on,” she notes. “There’s no real filter or boundaries.” With The Prosecco Express, she’s continuing to address subjects that countless women will find only too relatable – in particular, being surrounded by friends that are suddenly settling down with spouses and children. As she’s made blatantly clear, that traditional path has never really been on the 38-yearold’s agenda. Comedy, she says, is her “whole life.” “When lockdown happened, I realised that I have very little going on in my life outside of comedy,” she admits. “Which was a bit tragic. But then when it lifted, and things started moving again, I was like, ‘This is all I need.’ I feel like I always need a large purpose, and for the moment, my large purpose is
stand-up.”
Of course, with her ever-rising profile, and the phenomenal popularity of her My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast, which she co-hosts with her close friend Vogue Williams, things are likely to jump up a few gears for Joanne. For now, however, she’s happy not to be at the centre of the tabloids.
“It’s almost like a superpower, being mildly invisible,” she laughs. “The cool thing is that I’m mostly ignored, media-wise. I guess because I’m a comic, no one cares what you say, because it’s all taken with such a massive pinch of salt. Whereas Vogue will be like, ‘I washed Gigi today’, or ‘Gigi woke up early today’ – and it will be a headline in the Daily Mail. I could be like, ‘I drank a pint of mushrooms and ran naked down Grafton Street.’ And it will literally appear nowhere – no one will give a damn! I’d love to be able to hold onto that, but I don’t know if that’s possible. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle the level of attention that Vogue gets. I like where I am now.”
As Joanne points out, she’s living in an age where, as a comedian, “you have to be visible in between your shows, for people to remember you exist” – whereas, in the past, “the likes of the Tommys and the Daras and the Jasons just sold tickets and did their shows.”
Equally, the nature of comedy itself continues to change dramatically, with younger generations largely looking to social media and video platforms for their own funny fix.
“I’ve done college gigs, like Freshers Week stuff, and I did find them a bit tense,” she acknowledges. “Because I find that generation are more sensitive than my generation. We’re used to slagging stuff that they just don’t like hearing slagged. That was a bit of a challenge.
“I do think comedy should be kept as open and as controversial as it possibly can be because that’s what makes it interesting,” she continues. “There are certain topics that I personally wouldn’t touch on, just because it’s not worth it to me, for the sake of the laugh. I don’t necessarily want to start slagging off people, because it’s just not my vibe. But that’s just me – I’m not going to tell anyone else how to do their job. When it comes to comedy, I’m fairly open-minded about stuff.”
While her tour will be keeping her busy for most of 2022, it’s by no means the only thing on Joanne’s plate for the foreseeable future. In November, it was announced that Sandycove, the Dublin-based imprint of Penguin Random House, will be publishing her debut collection of essays in autumn 2023.
“I’ve been dying to write a book,” Joanne enthuses. “I love reading, and I’ve always loved writing. Originally, I wanted to be a journalist. I studied English in college, and then I was going to do an MA in Journalism. And then someone was like – you need to be prepared to sell your granny for a story. I was like, ‘Well, my granny’s dead! I’ve nothing to sell!’ So I ended up going into PR.
With those major plans in motion, Joanne will be continuing to split her time between London and Dublin – glamorously, of course, via-Ryanair. Joanne admits that moving to the UK has opened up new doors in her career.
“It’s tough in Ireland, because there just isn’t the same opportunities for comics,” she points out. “And you can’t be angry about it – that’s just the way it is, because it’s a smaller country. So of course you’re going to go where the opportunities are. And that means that you’ll probably settle down in that country.
• Joanne McNally’s The Prosecco Express is coming to Dublin, Cork, Sligo, Belfast, Derry and Killarney. See joannemcnally.com for details.
FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE
Róisín O channels the pain of a broken relationship into Courageous, a deeply personal and impeccably crafted album, which includes co-writes with Gavin James and her Coronas-fronting brother Danny O’Reilly. She talks new beginnings, famous families, Lionel Richie and Steven Spielberg. INTERVIEW KATE BRAYDEN Photograhy: Miguel Ruiz
Róisín O is all smiles when we meet. Ready for her photo-shoot, her auburn hair shines bright red in the sunlight, as she opens up about her eagerly-awaited sophomore album, Courageous.
The follow-up to 2012’s The Secret Life Of Blue sees the 34-year-old Dubliner continue down the path she forged in such style, across last year’s trio of breathtaking pop ballads: ‘Heart + Bones’, ‘Still Gold’ and ‘2023’.
Why the ten-year hiatus between solo albums? Well, back in 2018, Róisín joined up with John Broe to form Thanks Brother. The duo launched that project by performing their debut single ‘We Are Different’ on The Late Late Show. They had a good run in the meantime, making a number of gorgeous videos alongside powerful tracks. Now, Róisín has decided that the moment is ripe for her to continue her solo foray. With that in mind, the singer-songwriter has assembled a brilliant squad to assist in the creation of her upcoming LP, including Gavin James, her brother Danny O’Reilly and more.
“‘Heart + Bones’ was the first track I worked on after Thanks Brother finished,” Róisín recalls, “and I’d never had such a positive studio experience. Phil is the most beautiful friend; so insanely talented, but such a nerd. He makes me feel like I’m the best singer on the planet when I’m in the vocal booth. He comes into a room and knows exactly what the artist needs.”
That sense of confidence can be vital for an artist.
“I struggled slightly after the release of ‘Give It Up’ in 2016, which was probably one of my biggest singles,” she admits. “I started writing all my songs with John Broe and saw what a great producer he was. I wanted him to be part of my journey, which was why Thanks Brother started. That put a halt to my
solo work, but I think I was overly-daunted by the idea that my next album wasn’t going to be good enough. No song is ever perfect. Any project is a moment in time, so the only thing that matters is that you’re proud of the art at that time. You’re always going to look back and notice the flaws. With Thanks Brother, it was like I had a clean slate. I didn’t have to worry about Róisín O.”
The decision to strike out on her own again promptly paid dividends.
“I released a cover of Selena Gomez’s track ‘Lose You To Love Me’. It blew up online – I suddenly realised that I already had an audience – I didn’t need to reinvent myself. So it really just felt right to keep going with my own material.” And so it has proven.
“When I released ‘Heart + Bones’, it really seemed to connect with people,” Róisín says. “The response has been amazing, I actually couldn’t have imagined it. The whole process made me realise that my own opinions actually do matter. Before, I felt as though I couldn’t do it on my own. It’s tough sometimes as a female solo artist, especially a vocalist. I get by in songwriting and playing on stage, but at some level, I always thought I wasn’t talented enough because I wasn’t this amazing guitar or piano player. Now, I realise that I’m a vocalist and no one else can sing the way I can, even just biologically. I can write a song as good as the next person, and I’m secure with that knowledge. I’m in a better place in terms of musical self-esteem.”
HIDDEN UNDERNEATH
Every song on Róisín powerful new album has an underlying theme of courage, with ‘Stolen’ (a Gavin James co-write) and ‘Heart + Bones’ delving deep into the consequences of a painful break-up. There is a unique vulnerability that will doubtless be easy for a lot of people to relate to.
“‘Heart + Bones’ was just me, literally on the floor crying,” she confesses. “because my heart and soul was destroyed from this relationship ending. It’s about admitting to yourself that you’re not over someone, and then – finally – letting it all come out. That’s so easy for people to connect to. That feeling of understanding other people is what it’s all about for me in terms of songwriting.
“‘Stolen’ is about bumping into that person – who actually asked me what ‘Heart + Bones’ was about,” she adds. “That’s where the line, ‘But you ask me what I write about/ How have you not worked it out?’ comes from. I never asked his permission before I released it, but I was never saying anything horrible about him on the track. In terms of writing about other people, if the song was absolutely damning, I would contemplate sending it to them beforehand! I wouldn’t write about the same break-up now. These songs are from a specific part of my life. You’ll have to tune in to the next album to hear where the story goes next!”
A NEW CHAPTER
As the daughter of Mary Black and Joe O’Reilly whose family owned Dolphin Discs, Róisín herself born into a musical family. Danny O’Reilly of The Coronas is her brother and Frances Black her Aunt. Did she ever feel pressure to compete?
“As the girl in the clan, I was never really pitted against them,” she says. “I was always the singer. Conor, our oldest brother, got more into bass when we were young. Then Danny got skilled at guitar – he’s has been an amazing songwriter for as long as I can remember. None of us were pushed to go down this route. Danny especially is just so open and encouraging to me.”
“Our parents were hugely encouraging to all of us, but it was never a competition. All three of us are very supportive of each other. I’m one of the biggest Coronas fans on the planet. I know every single song, and love nothing more than seeing them live. Danny’s the same with me. We’re so lucky to have family in the same industry. Getting mentorship from people who have your best interests at heart is invaluable”
Currently halfway through a major Irish tour, Róisín has managed to get over her early careers and is now a consummate live performer.
“I supported Lionel Richie, which was so bizarre,” Róisín laughs, shaking her head. “It was in the 3Arena just after the debut album came out, which was crazy. That’s definitely a moment I’ll always think back on. Another one was getting invited to LA to do the JJ Abrams Oscar party. I walked the red carpet before singing at the event – Steven Spielberg was right in front of me with this camera filming. That wasn’t real life.
“Even just being on tour with my band and meeting other acts at festivals still feels incredible. Being around music, going to Electric Picnic and having those experiences is really special. I do miss the camaraderie you get with a band. It’s that feeling of all being in it together. I adore those junctures of shared happiness, no matter how big or small the show is. But I’m really happy that I’ve come back to Róisín O. It’s a new chapter and I’m really looking forward to it.”
MY FAVOURITE JOURNEY KERRY GOLD
Irish singer Junior Brother tells Kate Brayden why he loves the trip from Dublin to his native Kingdom.
JOURNEY: DUBLIN TO KERRY
You may be familiar with altfolk artist Ronan Kealy’s work under the moniker of Junior Brother, having secured himself a Choice Music Prize nomination in 2019 for debut LP Pull The Right Rope. The Kerryman is more than familiar with Irish public transport, having moved up to Dublin in 2014 to start his music career, and toured his album in venues nationwide.
Being a native of Kilcummin, the train from Dublin to Killarney is his bread and butter. Now that he’s accustomed to the capital however, he’s acquired a favourite Dart view.
“I’d be most familiar with the Dublin to Kerry journey alright, going out via Mallow,” he smiles. “I was also thinking about the Dart line from Tara Street to Bray, which I’ve gotten to know very well over the last few years. I can never get over the views whenever I’m on that train, and I’m always shocked whenever anyone else in my carriage isn’t looking out the window with their jaws on the floor.
“Going home though, I love how the scenery changes as you look out from Dublin to Killarney. It’s like it’s unravelling from an urban landscape to a rural one over the course of three-and-a-half hours. It’s lovely through Rathmore. You see all the mountains and it looks like they’re moving along with the train to accommodate their arrival.
Getting to grips with some of train travel is a rite of passage – though it doesn’t always come easy!
“I’ve probably missed every form of public transport in Dublin at least once, trains included,” Ronan laughs. “I could just never get a handle on it when I wasn’t used to living here! I’ve since gotten to know how it all works, but when I was just a country mouse coming up, I didn’t know what was what. My friends and I used to come up for the darts, which took place in Citywest Hotel.
“We were fairly young at the time, and we didn’t realise that you could get any bus from the quays up to Heuston Station. We ended up having to walk all the way to the station from O’Connell Bridge and missed the train to Kerry by about an hour. That was probably the biggest bout of train-related misfortune I’ve experienced, due to bad time-keeping.
•Junior Brother plays DeBarra’s, Clonakility (June 3) and All Together Now, Waterford (July 30). See juniorbrother.com for full line-up of summer dates.
LONGFORD IRELAND’S HIDDEN HEARTLANDS
Longford, centrally located in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands with the River Shannon, The Royal Canal, Lough Ree and numerous other lakes dotted around the County. It has plenty to offer from water and trails to Visitor Centres and plenty of attractions.
Longford is rich in history and culture with the ancient bog road built in 148 B.C. at Corlea Trackway Visitors Centre, the Maria Edgeworth Centre, Knights & Conquests Heritage Centre and more. Longford is home to the magnifi cent St. Mel’s Cathedral which was damaged extensively in the Christmas Day fi re of 2009 and reopened for services on Christmas Eve 2014 after a huge restoration project. Take in a show at the wonderful Backstage Theatre, visit Fiona Egan Cloughan farm and cookery school or dine in one of the many award-winning restaurants.
Center Parcs Longford Forest, Ireland’s largest tourist attraction offers short breaks in luxury accommodation perfect for family and friends in the secluded setting of Newcastle Woods. Longford is also home to the Royal Canal Greenway and National Famine Way with bike hire and kayaks available along the way. The Royal Canal Greenway which is the longest linear greenway in Ireland. Explore the Longford section of this speculator trail with an interesting EZxploring map. A 10k Blueway loop in Clondra for kayaking is available for water enthuasitasts.
Fancy a boat trip, why not try out the Access for All boat in Lanesborough, the fi rst of its kind in the country for all people and is suitable for people with disabilities. Sail out to the historic Quaker Island and take in the sights. If you are an avid angler enjoy some top-class fi shing along the banks of the Shannon in this lovely little town of Lanesborough.
For information on things to do in County Longford, visit www.longford. ie, where you will find information on accommodation, food & drink, activities, events, readymade itineraries and more.
Longford.ie Tel: +353 (0)43 3343509 Email: tourism@longfordcoco.ie
