Bored in the house and you're in the house bored? Well, get ready to be inspired because it's Arts and Crafts Week on RTÉ Player, and with that comes a brand new series from comedian Kevin McGahern.
Failing to impress his classmates with any kind of sporting ability, Kevin McGahern turned to art to win his peers over from a young age, drawing funny cartoons to get his school friends laughing.
Determined to develop his artistic gifts even further, he joined a painting class with a group of retired women in his local community centre before eventually going on to study Animation in college.
Like most adults though, the funnyman's childhood interests fell by the wayside when he joined the working world and before long he had carved a new career path for himself, having discovered stand-up comedy while bartending in The International.
Aside from painting the odd birthday present for his nearest and dearest, Kevin says he hadn't thought to pick up his brushes again until life in lockdown became a reality.
"When lockdown happened, I started doing these live painting things on Instagram as a way to stay connected with the audience," he explained, speaking over the phone.
"If you remember, everyone was kind of going mad in those first two weeks when we couldn't go to pubs. I felt like I needed to do something to break up the week and I needed to talk to people. It was just an excuse to start painting again, really."
Asking his followers to paint their favourite Fair City character, movie star, or even the barman or woman that they miss most, McGahern had the country painting most Friday evenings for the first few weeks of lockdown.
"It was really cool seeing people's interpretations," he admitted. "Seeing how good people are - people who never get a chance to flex that muscle - that was the cool part."
Now, #PaintAlongWithKevin has gone a step further.
Shot in his sitting room, this four-part programme sees the Republic of Telly star video call Derry Girls actress Saoirse-Monica Jackson, comedians Pat Shortt and Joanne McNally, and fellow artist Don Conroy - all while painting their portraits.
This chat show is sure to entertain viewers as the Cavan man improvises his way through his interviews, getting an impromptu tour of Saorise's apartment and insulting Joanne to her core with his artistic interpretation of her face.
According to Kevin though, one guest stands out among the rest.
"It was a bit surreal talking to Don. When you grow up watching Zig and Zag or Ray D'Arcy or Don Conroy, you feel like you know them already so you have to remind yourself who you are," he laughed.
"Don is one of the sweetest, nicest, and most interesting people I've ever met. He's had a very interesting life so it was great to hear stories that I had never heard before of him being an actor, how he got his start, how he fell into art, his environmental work... it was nice to get a sense of what the man is like because I'd only ever seen him when Dustin was abusing him," he joked.
Of course, having in-depth chats with celebs makes painting a masterpiece a little tricky, especially when you're on a deadline.
"Painting makes interviewing easier because you're in this relaxed mode but interviewing makes the painting harder because you're against the clock. It can sometimes lead to disastrous results... like Joanne's one. When I finished Joanne's one, it looked horrendous," he admitted.
"And Joanne didn't pull any punches," he added, laughing.
With comedy clubs closed and festivals cancelled for the foreseeable future, many comics are following in Kevin's footsteps, pivoting their careers to adapt to the social distancing restrictions of Covid-19.
And although McGahern jokingly insists that his interests lie in "anything that pays", he admits that comedians have been working hard to get the country laughing again.
"In the last decade or so, I think we've all become quite cynical and sneery. One of the benefits of this situation is that we've all become a little bit more wholesome and more caring and altruistic and empathetic. I think it's a lovely thing. There's no time for sneering anymore."
Short, sweet and a little bit sassy, these 10-minute episodes of Kevin Paints are as wholesome as they are entertaining. Watch them on the RTÉ Player this week or catch them on RTÉ2 on Thursdays at 9.20pm.
