Ireland's oldest comedy club turned 30 this year, we spoke with some of the country's funniest to find out how it all began.
Thirty years ago, three DCU students by the name of Ardal O'Hanlon, Barry Murphy and Kevin Gildea banded together to form a comedy troupe. They called themselves Mr Trellis: The Mormon, and with the assistance of Dermot Carmody and Anne Gildea set out to create a comedy club in Dublin's city centre.
The space they found, in a room over The International Bar on Wexford Street, would become the legendary Comedy Cellar.
Setting up the club was a "reaction to the conditions we found ourselves in... It was about having fun and doing something useful and creative. What else was there? Despair... or poetry," Ardal O'Hanlon told the Galway Advertiser.
Having spent no time in the clubs of London or New York, the fresh-faced troupe dove head first into running a room in a country where stand-up was still considered 'alternative'. As Kevin Gildea told us, "there were no plans back in the 80's."
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RTÉ Archives: In 1995, Keelin Shanley visited the Comedy Cellar to find out how stand-up comedy was developing in Ireland.
In 2018, Ireland is wall to wall with comedians; they're playing festivals, writing TV shows, selling out Vicar Street and gigging the hundreds of clubs found across the country.
It seems impossible that just thirty years ago, it was a struggle to fill five-minute slots - but a struggle it was. On many a week, the show would rely entirely on Mr Trellis performing sketches, Dermot Carmody picking up his guitar and Karl Mac Dermott providing some stand-up.
WATCH: Comedy Cellar comedians share their earliest memories of the iconic club. (Image of Pom Boyd courtesy of Derek Speirs).
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To say there isn't room to swing a cat would be kind. Located upstairs (naturally) over The International Bar, the Cellar originally had no microphone, no dressing room, a peephole in the wall for the MC to check in on the acts and a few lamps stuck to the ceiling.
Despite its many quirks, many comedians remember the early days of the cellar as something special. A time of camaraderie and artistic freedom.
"I did my first Comedy Cellar gig on the same day Jason Byrne did his, and he was much better than me. It would have been 1995, a beautiful summer, not just weather-wise but also comedically. Dylan [Moran] had just left there, Tommy [Tiernan] was just starting as well that summer. There was a pub where we’d all meet after our various gigs and we’d end up just talking and dissecting the night, Dara O'Brien told Chortle.
WATCH: Comics discuss Ireland's oldest comedy venue.
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Today, the room remains almost entirely unchanged, bar some slightly more secure lighting and an air con unit that rumbles off and on at will - but that only adds to its bedraggled charm.
"Even though it's a small room, there's just something special about it," says Chris Kent. "There's no microphone, the people are really close to you and it's got a dark, dingy feel to it - but the comedy just works. It's an accidental perfect room for comedy. You might only have 60-70 people, but it can feel like there are hundreds there."
For such an unglamorous setting, the venue has managed to host some huge names and memorable moments. Eddie Izzard had to pay into his own gig, Tommy Tiernan paced the floorboards with nerves, Dylan Moran took his first steps into stand-up there and David Lovering, the drummer of The Pixies, performed some magic tricks.
WATCH: Comics share their favourite memories of The Comedy Cellar.
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While the room itself hasn't changed, the line-up has diversified immensely. Guided by hosts Ryan Cullen and Davey Reilly, a new wave of comics who grew up dreaming of playing the iconic stage are joined by the cream of Irish comedy talent.
On any given week, audiences could be treated to comedic heavyweights such as David O'Doherty, Neil Delamere and Alison Spittle, or a whole new assortment of comedians, among them Fiona Frawley, Emman Idama and Aoife O'Connor.
While Reilly's comedy strikes a fine balance of dry wit and warm audience engagement, Cullen's short and fantastically dark one-liners keep audiences on their toes as they introduce the room to a carefully curated arrangement of acts.
What can we expect from the next thirty years? Founder Kevin Gildea hopes it stays true to form.
"I hope the Cellar keeps its unique quality - it was never monetised or cashed in on. It was passed on from generation to generation with new people running it - but they were not, or are not, business people. They are custodians. Custodians of the Funny."
Click through the gallery above for vintage photos and reviews from the Comedy Cellar.
