Welcome to the 17th Cat Laughs Comedy Festival We are thrilled to present the line up for Cat Laughs 2011. Let’s set aside all the financial and political drama for one long, lost weekend this summer and celebrate all that is great about Irish comedy. You deserve that much at least! Head to Kilkenny City and see your favourite local comedy heroes alongside our handpicked stars from the UK, USA and Australia. Our line up includes the magnificent Tommy Tiernan, Neil Delamere, Jason Byrne, David O’Doherty and Ardal O’Hanlon. We have a wonderful series of solo performances as well. Joining us will be The Horne Section – a jazz infused comedy performance party, Abandoman
– Irish hip hop improvisers where no two shows are every the same and some cheeky fellas from Limerick called The Rubberbandits. Book your tickets, plan your travel and accommodation, lock in the baby-sitter – tweet us, Facebook us, just get to the Cat Laughs 2011 – it’s going to be a weekend you’ll be talking about for years! See you there The Cat Laughs Crew
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THE CATTERY Rebecca Austin Jane Russell
Artistic Director Chief Executive
Michael Burke Orla Burke Lisa Tinley Melanie O’Connor Jayne Gross Aisling Mulhall
Production Manager Assistant Production Manager Venue Manager PR Manager Marketing Manager Festival Administrator
Cathy Hogan Lilian Burke Fiona Donnelly
Box Office Manager Box Office Manager Finance Manager
Festival Board of Directors Bren Berry, Kieran O’Gorman, Richard Cook (Chair), Rose Parkinson, Tony Walsh. Design www.redlemonade.ie
Tommy Tiernan John Colleary
Irish comedy legend, the one and only Tommy Tiernan returns to the Cat Laughs…and doesn’t he look thrilled about it. Cat Credentials: 12 previous appearances
You may know him from the Savage Eye, come and see Sligo man John live on stage with his original brand of humour. Cat Credentials: 4 previous appearances
Neil Delamere Neil is one of the top headline acts working the Irish comedy scene today. He is well known to audiences for his regular appearances on RTÉ’s The Panel, BBC’s The Blame Game and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow. Cat Credentials: 9 previous appearances
Jarlath Regan
Barry Murphy
Jason Byrne
Seeing Jarlath guarantees a gut-busting blend of on-the-money observational stand-up. He’s one of the stars of RTE’s Stand & Deliver and a best-selling author. Fancy.!
Barry Murphy was born and still lives in Limerick, but has travelled in between. He is best known for his TV series Barry Murphy Wants A Woman. It was a huge success in that it not only got huge ratings but he also found himself a woman. No, that’s Karl Spain. Too late it’s gone to print.
The Irish Tornado hits the Kilkenny stages full throttle. Batten down the hatches, Jason is a truly brilliant performer. Unique, energetic and injecting mentalness into every show he does.
Cat Credentials: 5 previous appearances
Cat Credentials: 16 previous appearances
Cat Credentials: 14 previous appearances
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Colm O’Regan Hailing from the small Co. Cork village of Dripsey, Colm has stood up and made people laugh all over the world. His comedy festival appearances include the Montreal Just For Laughs and Electric Picnic. Cat Credentials: 3 previous appearances
Hector O’hEochagain
David O’Doherty
Hector swaps early mornings for late, late nights in Kilkenny. He’ll be helping us keep it lit and ensuring plenty of summer bank holiday fun.
David O’Doherty is the stage name of David O’Doherty: comedian, writer and 1990 East Leinster under 14s triple jump bronze medallist. Edinburgh Festival if.com Award winner in 2008, he has been performing comedy since 1998 and now tours his own solo shows all around the world.
Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Cat Credentials: 10 previous appearances
Dermot Whelan Dermot is best known as host of RTÉ’s The Republic of Telly and ‘Dermot & Dave’ on 98fm. However, Dermot is especially proud of his acting success. He recently appeared as a Taste Bud in Fig Roll’s latest TV ad. Genius. Cat Credentials: 6 previous appearances
Andrew Stanley
Andrew Maxwell Andrew continues to cement his reputation as one of Ireland’s favourite comedians and collectors of taxidermy woodcocks. He catapults his way into Kilkenny for more comedy hijinks. Cat Credentials: 6 previous appearances
Gearoid Farrelly
Maeve Higgins
Andrew is funny and he also has a face. These two things are very important in comedy. See why when he says some funny things using the mouth on his face. You will laugh. Using the mouth on YOUR face.
Gearóid is a rising star on the Irish stand-up circuit. A finalist in Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny competition in Edinburgh and winner of the Bulmers Nuthin Butt Funny Newcomer competition. He debuted at The Cat Laughs last year and is chuffed to be back again.
Maeve Higgins is from Cobh. She has performed at festivals all around the world, and made her own RTÉ series, Fancy Vittles, with her sister Lilly. She has part ownership of a very gentle Alsatian.!
Cat Credentials: 7 previous appearances
Cat Credentials: 1 previous appearance
Cat Credentials: 6 previous appearances
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LOCAL HEROES
Fred Cooke Fred has rapidly become one of Ireland’s most unique stand-ups. He shot into the limelight for his critically acclaimed* role as Fergus in the award winning* Spar ads. Having narrowly missed out on an Oscar* for his performance, Fred is one to watch. *may be figments of Fred’s imagination.
Ardal O’Hanlon
Cat Credentials: 3 previous appearances More than a mere comedian, Ardal currently resides in a cave where he makes wings for disabled bees. This will be his last Cat Laughs... probably. Cat Credentials: 12 previous appearances
Paddy Courtney Paddy has never performed at the Cat Laughs as a married man before. Until now! He would like to apologise to all groupies for any inconvenience. Cat Credentials: 9 previous appearances
Eleanor Tiernan
Colin Murphy Edgy, topical, sometimes a little bit cross! You know him from RTÉ’s The Panel, but come and see him performing live.
Eleanor Tiernan has been quietly going about her comedy business at the Cat Laughs for 6 years now. That’s not all though... Her plaudits include the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and all the major Irish festivals. While she loves performing, by day Eleanor’s favourite thing is to speculate on the outcome of lie detector tests on the Jeremy Kyle show. Cat Credentials: 5 previous appearances
Karl Spain Karl was born and still lives in Limerick, but has travelled in between. He has performed his comedy all over the world including the USA, the Middle East, Australia and even as far away as England. He is livid with Barry Murphy for ripping off his blurb. Cat Credentials: 8 previous appearances
Cat Credentials: 12 previous appearances
Keith Farnan Eric Lalor
Well this is getting ridiculous. Ian returns to the Cat Laughs for an epic 16th time! An amazing comic and improviser who leads us all astray at the pub.
Keith has appeared on the BBC’s Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow as well as Most Annoying People (as a commentator!) He has performed stand-up all over the world and knocked numerous socks off at the Edinburgh Fringe with his solo show.
Since his introduction to comedy on Des Bishop’s Joy in the Hood, Eric has gone from strength to strength. He’s handy for a sport commentary via Twitter too.
Cat Credentials: 15 previous appearances
Cat Credentials: 1 previous appearance
Cat Credentials: 5 previous appearances
Ian Coppinger
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LOCAL HEROES
The Rubberbandits If you don’t know about the horse outside and the Rubberbandits then you must be dead. With over six million You Tube views since December, 100,000 itunes downloads and a chorus that’s ringing out on street corners from the Sunset Strip to Notre Dame ‘F*ck your Honda Civic, I’ve a Horse Outside’ has been the most tweeted video link in the world and the topic of opinion pieces everywhere from The New Delhi Times, CNBC and The Spectator.
Horse Outside was the song that made Christmas 2010 in Ireland better than bearable. It’s one of those songs that taps into everyone’s inner need to sing songs about horses and of course the triumph of the little guy in the nasty world of love. As hardcore Limerick City gangster rappers they are mystified as to why they are playing at a comedy festival but are mad to see if those comedians have any new jokes. Midnight Fri 3 June, 70mins Langton’s Ballroom (This is a standing gig and strictly for over 18s) Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Abandoman are a musical phenomenon. They create hilarious musical sketches at lightning speed live in front of their audience. No two gigs are ever the same. The project sees frontman Rob and his accompanying multi-instrumentalist reinventing hip hop in a way that appeals to all age groups. Abandoman are regular performers on BBC Radio 4 and recently sold out their entire 28-day run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. ‘Flight of the Conchords meet 8 Mile…nothing short of genius.’ Chortle ‘Killer punchlines - note-perfect, lyrically mind-blowing hip-hop improv. Genius!’ The Stage Catch this amazing solo show. ALL AGES SHOW 4.30pm Sat 4 June, 60mins Ormonde Hotel, King’s Ballroom (Family Tickets available)
Abandoman 6
LATE SHOW 10pm Sun 5 June, 60mins Ormonde Hotel, Venue Bar Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Tim Vine Tim Vine is undoubtedly one of the UK’s finest and funniest comedians. Star of BBC’s Not Going Out, come and see why his most recent best-selling DVD was called PunSlinger. Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Bo Burnham 20 year-old American Bo became something of an internet sensation performing songs that toy with language, have intricate wordplay and pack jokes
Jack Whitehall
one on top of the other. They say you need 10 years to become a good comedian. Pffffffttttt! Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Carl Donnelly
Rich Hall
For one so young, Jack has made a remarkable impact on the comedy world. With a host of tv shows under his belt, he recently hosted Never Mind the Buzzcocks and starred in Dave’s One Night Stand.
Carl makes his Kilkenny debut with a conversational style and a silly sense of humour. He’s won a host of awards and is a delight to watch on stage.
Kilkenny’s favourite grouch returns to bring us all back to a grumpy reality. The master of absurdist irony is part of the furniture and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Cat Credentials: 15 previous appearances
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Alun Cochrane Surely comedy’s most laid back performer, Alun delivers the comedy goods each and every time. Cat Credentials: 3 previous appearances
Wil Anderson Wil is one of Australia’s biggest comedy stars and the winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. If you see him in the street welcome him to Ireland will ya!? Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Jon Richardson Jon returns to Kilkenny to awkwardly realign wrongs to right, in alphapbetical order of course… and colour-coded. Cat Credentials: 2 previous appearances
Sarah Millican Alex Horne A thoughful and original stand-up, star of the BBC’s We Need Answers. Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Seann Walsh
Sarah is fast on her way to becoming a household name. A consummate live performer, she has notched up countless TV appearances and sold out tours dates. Most importantly she shares the Cat Laughs Crew’s love of cake, so she is welcome back anytime.
Tom Gleeson Tom says he’s only coming back to Kilkenny because he likes the chips at Langton’s. He looks like he’s from here but he sounds like he’s not . A lot. Cat Credentials: 1 previous appearance
Cat Credentials: 2 previous appearances
Nick Helm
Greg Davies
Seann is one of our new kids this year. He absolutely buzzes around the stage making the audience sit up and take notice. Lucky. It’d be a bit awkward otherwise.
Since starting stand-up comedy in 2007, Nick quickly gained attention for his unique, powerful and hilarious blend of one-liners, stories, poems and songs. In our opinion he probably had one of the best shows at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2010. A belter.
Greg made his Kilkenny debut last year and had the locals stunned - for more than one reason. This year he is back and promises to address every single issue important to the human race. We suspect this is all lies.
Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Cat Credentials: 1 previous appearance
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EXOTIC IMPORTS
Josie Long
Roisin Conaty
Damian Clark
Josie is one of the most talked about comedians of her generation. She creates a buzz with her obsessive and ridiculous stories, leaving audiences smitten with her innocent wonder and loveable madness.
Roisin won the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Fringe last year. And rightly so. She is a truly wonderful comic to watch. Don’t let the accent fool you, she knows a bit about our Irish ways.
Damo’s Australian. Now he lives in Ireland. His tan is long gone but his energetic stage performances continue.
Cat Credentials: 1 previous appearance
Cat Credentials: Festival debut
Cat Credentials: 5 previous appearances
The Horne Section Alex Horne brings his hit performance party The Horne Section to the Cat Laughs direct from the Edinburgh Fringe and London’s West End. It’s comedy & jazz, united at last! The Horne Section is a brilliantly inventive show where Alex and his magnificent jazz band welcome the festival’s best comedians to the stage to improvise a short piece, sing a song or do whatever they please…The results are unexpected and hilarious. It’s jazz-infused comedy, live and loud - part improvised, part honed, part performance, part party. Catch this amazing solo show.
‘Fresh, original, blissfully funny; a whole lot of fun. Highly recommended.’ Time Out 7.00pm Sat 4 June, 75mins Langton’s Set Theatre
7.30pm Sun 5 June, 75mins Langton’s Set Theatre
And appearing as part of our finale Goodnite Cats at 9.30pm Mon 6 June Langton’s Ballroom Cat Credentials: Festival debut
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s s e n i p p a H f o t i u The Purs ure Hunt s a re T y d e m o C s h g u La t a C The
The accidental surprise hit of last year’s festival is back and more secretive than ever. There will be more clues, possibly a coach trip, possibly an outside gig and possibly woodland creatures! Get your tickets, prepare for all weathers, don’t make any other plans for your Saturday afternoon. It’s going to be AMAZING! MEETING POINT: Ormonde Hotel, King’s Ballroom 1pm Sat 4 June. Tickets €18
This adventure will take up to 2 hrs
Afternoon De-Write (Word Rockets In Flight) with David O’Doherty and friends. Drink tea and eat cake while David O’Doherty, co-author of 100 Facts About Pandas and the forthcoming and equally essential 100 Facts About Sharks, reads things he likes along with his brother Mark (writer: A Film With Me in It, Soupy Norman) and some surprise guests.
The Hole In The Wall, 17 High St (at rear) 4.30pm Sat 4 June, 70mins. Tickets €15 10
SPECIAL EVENTS
l Match
Footbal
It’s transfer deadline day for the Cat Laughs Cup and we are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The beautiful game has never looked so ugly! Come and see your favourite red-faced, panting, overweight, under-prepared, over-confident, under-motivated comics bash around the pitch.
A big thanks to Umbro for the kit. At least the lads will look professional.
green e Fair RY! h T : T T IN REE EN NG PO MEETI Sun 5 June. F 2.30pm
DISLIKk GEu!id!e!to the Recession A Faceboo
Colm O’Regan pokes the profile of our greatest economic disaster to try and explain where it all went wrong. Along the way, you’ll see what Ann and Barry can teach us about the bank guarantee, the real reason why Rapunzel’s house has no stairs and what to do if a billionaire developer tries to sue you for defamation.
Cleere’s 4pm Sat 4 June, 60mins. Tickets €10 11