Paddy 'C' Courtney - Man Friday
Friday, 4 April 2008
Comedian, Writer, Actor, Musician and Producer Paddy Courtney is our Man Friday with two big gigs coming up Paddy is here to talk about all things Courtney.
Since he was last here, Paddy has been very busy:-
. Paddywhackery was nominated for 3 IFTA's - Including 'Best Script for Television'
. Paddy has also been taking 'producing film' courses, as this is something that he would like to develop further
. He has shot two more installments of his bodhran show for TG4 (the final two were shot the weekend of 28-30th March '08)
. He's been busy at his desk writing two films and two TV dramas - he has submitted one of the short films to the film board (he had an interview on 27th March and was successfully granted funding)
. He has also been performing gigs at small venues, testing out material for the big one in Vicar Street - he is generally used to being the MC, compere or warm up and this would normally involve doing 10 mins at a time. He has to get used to doing much longer sets, as the Vicar Street gig will be well over an hour long
. Paddy Whackery has also been nominated for at The Walkers Sensations TV Now Awards on Saturday 12th April '08 ** Voting details at the end of brief
Paddy C. Courtney
After working 9 to 5 for a decade, Paddy C. Courtney left his job as an accountant with EMI Records on 28th July 1998 - This decision was kind of planned and kind of spontaneous (his own words). He worked for EMI for about 4 years and for him it was a fantastic dream job and very difficult to leave. He had thought about it for about 6 months, until two defining moments occurred in his fledgling career! Firstly he was offered a chance for someone to produce an Edinburgh (Festival) Show for him, along with other comics who were Brendan Dempsey (Gangs of New York, Waking Ned) and Deirdre O'Kane (Paths to Freedom and Intermission) - This was a dream come true for Paddy, as he would have a weekly wage for the four weeks he was up there and he felt it was now or never to leave his job. He still mulled it over as he was very comfortable at EMI but the straw that broke the camel's back was he hooked up with a girl after a really great gig one night and he realised that Accountants 'don't get the girl but comedians do!' So the next day he handed in his notice and hasn't looked back since. Although he knew he wouldn't remain a standup comic forever, it was being his own boss that was the most important to him.
Within two days of leaving his job, Paddy got his first gig at the Edinburgh Festival and began a 28 night run as a stand up comedian. He left the job on the Friday and the gig was the following Monday. Edinburgh was amazing for him, he had been there once before but only for a couple of gigs in the 'So you think you are Funny' competition, run by Channel 4. This time however, he was there for a full run and it was like being on a tour of duty with an army, as he got to experience the full four weeks with all its glory. It was the first place he discovered that one could drink legally in bars, nightclubs and early houses for a solid 24 hours straight - by his own admission 'Not to be recommended!'
Since then, Paddy's career has taken many exciting twists and turns. In recent years he has moved seamlessly from the world of stand up comedy to that of writer and actor.
In his early days of stand up comedy, he was the resident compere and host of Ireland's longest running comedy club (The Comedy Cellar) and Ireland's largest purpose built comedy club (The Laughter Lounge).
He has toured around the world with his stand up and he is a veteran of 5 Edinburgh Festivals (in his first show, 'Just for the Craic' 1998, he shared a stage with Deirdre O'Kane and his last festival appearance was a show called 'The Main Event' in 2002 with Des Bishop) and has been a regular guest at the invite only Kilkenny Cat Laughs Festival every year since 1998. He has performed at the last two Electric Picnic festivals and the inaugural 'Bud light Comedy Carnival' last July in Dublin's Iveagh Gardens.
In his capacity as compere, Paddy has hosted shows with many international stand-up comics and musicians (he was the warm up act for BBC Music Live in Belfast 2002 and performed to 18,000 people at Belfast City Hall). He is also the most sought after television warm up act in Ireland for BBC, RTE & TV3. He has worked on such flagship shows as:
The Late Late Show, Who Want's to be a Millionaire, You're a Star, Test The Nation, The Podge and Rodge Show
Up coming Gigs - The Roisin Dubh in Galway on 9th April
- Vicar Street, Dublin, on 12th April