Comedy fans, rejoice! The Paddy Power Comedy Festival is set to return to Dublin this July, unloading a clown car full of talent into the Iveagh Gardens.
From Thursday, 24 July - Sunday, 27 July, Irish audiences will enjoy both international and homegrown talent thanks to a star-studded line-up. Tickets will go on sale Friday, 13th June at 10am.
International acts include Simon Brodkin, a serial hoaxer known for headline-grabbing pranks – he infamously snowed former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter in fake banknotes, invaded Kanye West's stage at Glastonbury, and interrupted Theresa May during a party conference by waving a fake P45 document at her during a keynote speech.
Other famous acts include New Yorker Janine Harouni; Scottish comics Fern Brady and Daniel Sloss; LA-based comic and writer Kim Congdon; British rising stars Red Richardson and Horatio Gould; and American comic and Netflix star Jamie Lee.
New York-based dark comic Rosebud Baker will also join the impressive line-up alongside outspoken and hilarious British stand-up Grace Campbell, the wry and wise British funnyman Elliott Steel, and UK rising star Kyrah Gray.
Our homegrown heroes will be out in force with thanks to a wonderful offering including (deep breath): Tommy Tiernan, Jason Byrne, Deirdre O’Kane, Emma Doran, Neil Delamere, Vittorio Angelone, Young Hot Guys (Tony Cantwell, Killian Sunderman & Shane Daniel Byrne), Mike Rice, Gearóid Farrelly, Peter McGann, Kyla Cobbler, Willa White, Jarlath Regan, David Nihill, Shane Todd, and Rachel Galvo ready to perform for their home crowd.
Speaking with RTÉ Culture, comedian and self-professed Hot Young Guy Shane Daniel Byrne said that the annual festival has become a party for both the comics and the crowds.
"It's like the comedy Christmas," he says. "All the comedians get together and get to catch up because usually we see each other in dirty staircases or back rooms, whereas at the festival we're all hanging out for the weekend."
Listing Janine Harouni, Daniel Sloss, and Elliot Steel as some of the acts he's most excited to see, Byrne says that every show will deliver a mix of performers for the audience to enjoy.
"When you do the shows, you're all a little team together for the few hours," he smiles. "It's kind of a bond, it's nice, you're hanging around with the people from your neighbouring tent and that kind of thing."
Shane will be performing on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and says that the festival will be a real treat before he - and so many other comics - travel to Edinburgh for a month-long run.
"I think the atmosphere of the comedians, having the party vibe, spreads into the room and the audience feels it too," he says. "It's less of a comedy club and more of a party."
The Paddy Power Comedy Festival runs from Thursday, 24 July - Sunday, 27 July - find out more here.
