John Colleary will be among the performers this comedy weekend.

Savage weekend of comedy in Ballina

A Savage weekend of comedy awaits in Ballina on July 15-17th when The Washerwoman bar will play host to a top array of Irish comedy talent.

Household names including Dave McSavage, Joe Rooney, Patrick McDonnell and John Colleary will headline over the weekend, with Newport native John Caplis as MC and some up-and-coming comedians also featuring over the three nights.

 

Kicking off this savage weekend of comedy is Meath native Joe Rooney, who is no stranger to this part of the world having appeared as Timmy Higgins in RTÉ’s hit show 'Killnascully'. His best-known acting role is that of Father Damo in the Channel 4 hit sitcom 'Father Ted'.

 

Joe currently hosts the podcast PodaRooney, on which he interviews guests who are mostly involved in the entertainment industry. Joe has performed stand up worldwide, including New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Pittsburgh,Toronto, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Barcelona, to name but a few.

 

In more recent years Joe has had featured roles in TV3's 'Red Rock', CBBC's 'Roy', and the feature films 'Monged' and 'South'. Speaking to the Nenagh Guardian, Joe said he loves doing gigs around North Tipp because he always gets a great reception from the audience, who connect with his hilarious observations about Irish life and mannerisms. Having already played the Ballina venue, Joe said he can’t wait to kick off what should be a great weekend of top Irish comedy.

 

On the Saturday night, Patrick McDonnell will headline proceedings having brought down the house last year. Patrick first made a name for himself as Fr Eoin McLove on Channel 4’s hit series 'Fr Ted'. Since then Patrick has gone on to appear in a range of high profile shows including RTÉ’s 'The Savage Eye', where he played an array of characters, from rogue politicians to guards in a training school. Patrick has also most recently appeared in Sky One’s hit show 'Moone Boy' as the awkward Frank.

 

Finally on the Sunday night, wrapping up proceedings is a unique double bill with the ever loveable but yet controversial Dave McSavage playing alongside John Colleary. Both Dave and John have appeared together on the hit show 'The Savage Eye', playing a strange combination of characters, which included the hilarious Politicians, The President for Life and her Housebound 'It', The Bull Mick, the child-snatching Priest, and many more! John Colleary also currently stars in RTÉ’s 'Pictorial Weekly' alongside Barry Murphy, which casts a satirical glance at Irish political issues.

 

Apart from some household names, the line-up will also include some emerging local talent including Limerick’s Stephen Ryan who recently appeared at the comedy tent at the Forbidden Fruit festival. MC for weekend will be John Caplis who is the main organising and promotional force behind the festival. John a native of Newport, has been involved in comedy as both a performer and promoter for over ten years, and has supported some of the biggest names in Irish and UK comedy, including Jason Byrne, Reginald D Hunter, Des Bishop, Neil Delamere and John Bishop.

 

Speaking to the Nenagh Guardian, John said: “We started off doing monthly gigs in the Washerwoman, which have been a great success, so we decided for the summer to put together a mini festival of sorts. To date, the response from audiences here has been really good and we are really looking forward to a great weekend this July.”

 

Tickets for the shows are priced at €10/€15 and are currently on sale at The Washerwoman in Ballina or can be booked by phoning 061-622781. Shows start at 9.15pm with doors from 8.30pm.