‘People want to laugh and need to laugh’
Top comedian Deirdre O’Kane coming to Nenagh Arts Centre
Laughs aplenty await at Nenagh Arts Centre this month when one of the present luminaries of Irish comedy comes to town.
Deirdre O'Kane is bringing her critically-acclaimed show ‘Demented’ to Nenagh. The multi award-winning performing artist has been here before and says she is looking forward to taking to the stage in Nenagh again.
“It's a nice part of the world,” said Deirdre, who has been to many parts over the last few months with her ‘Demented’ tour of Ireland and the UK, which began last April. She took a break for the comedy festival circuit during the summer before picking up where she left off in the autumn, and finding that audiences were back in force and hungry for laughs.
“That's when I feel covid really came to an end and people came out again properly,” Deirdre said. “But it was not until October - just because there were so many bugs around, and with the oil crisis and cost of living crisis - you could really feel it. And now I think people are just sick of it all; they just want a night out. People want to laugh and need to laugh. You can really feel that in the audience, actually. They're excited now.”
Much of the material in ‘Demented’ was inspired by the shackles of the pandemic. But it is mostly Deirdre taking an introspective look at where she is in life and finding a funny side to growing older.
“It's about the fact that I'm getting old and that I'm now officially a woman and all the things that go with that - menopause and parenting teenagers and older parents - and it still manages to be funny!
“I always write about what's going on in my life. I wrote a about my dad - my dad died a few years ago - and enjoyed writing about it, though it was quite sad and I didn't expect that I would.”
Drogheda-born Deirdre (54) has been nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA) six times and won one (Best Lead Actress) for her portrayal of Irish children's rights campaigner Christina Noble in the 2014 biopic, ‘Noble’. She is also known for fronting her own talk show on RTÉ - ‘Deirdre Talks Funny’ - and standup comedy series ‘The Deirdre O'Kane Show’ on Sky Comedy. Also renowned for her theatre work, Deirdre is the voice of Virgin Media's ‘Googlebox’ TV show. She co-founded Comic Relief in Ireland, presented the ‘RTÉ Does Comic Relief’ fundraising show during the pandemic, and reached the finals of ‘Dancing With the Stars’ in 2018.
In her standup comedy shows, Deirdre is known for her ability to win over a crowd from the moment she takes to the stage. She has already brought ‘Demented’ to sold-out shows at the 1,200-seat Olympia theatre in Dublin.
TICKET DETAILS
Deirdre's Nenagh performance will run for 75 minutes with an opening slot from Eddie Mullarkey of Galway. It will take place at 8pm on Saturday, March 11.
Tickets cost €24 and are available at www.nenagharts.com. Phone (067) 34400 for more details.