ABOUT
What's it all about?
Kilkenny Cat Laughs is Ireland’s annual craic pilgrimage, and has been heralding the start of the summer season since 1995. Now in it’s 30th edition, the festival has played host over the years to international and domestic world class comedy and is renowned for treating both talent and audience to a warm, welcoming and convivial atmosphere in Kilkenny, at the heart of Ireland’s Ancient East. Cat Laughs has a reputation for being the comedians’ comedy festival, and for creating an atmosphere where anything can happen. Over the years the festival has nurtured the fledgling careers of Irish acts like Dara Ó Briain, Aisling Bea, Graham Norton, Dylan Moran, Maeve Higgins, Ardal O’Hanlon, Joanne McNally, Deirdre O’Kane, David O’Doherty, Des Bishop and many, many more. We have also welcomed international luminaries like Bill Murray, Zach Galifianakis, Laura Kightlinger, Bill Burr, George Wendt, Ross Noble, Peter Kay, Bill Bailey, Tig Notaro, Emo Philips and Sarah Millican among others. This year we welcome 37 comedians to Kilkenny including 18 fresh debut acts! Roll on summer!
The best little Comedy Festival in the world
Kilkenny Cat Laughs – 30 Years & Counting!
Written by founder Richard Cook
People always ask me to pick out my favourite funny moments from the Cat Laughs over the years and in truth, it’s very hard to do because mostly the funny moments come from the stage and the acts themselves. Also, there’s very little room for sentiment in the world of stand-up; I once had a terrible idea of asking five comedians to do their favourite material over the years and the show completely bombed: the best comedy is about the here and now and a lot of it dates quite quickly.
However, there are a few memories that feel kind of special for me and in no particular order here they are:
Comedians who have performed at Cat Laughs
Dara O’Briain
Joanne McNally
Chris Kent
David O’Doherty
Des Bishop
Alison Spittle
Gearoid Farrelly
Colin Murphy
Colm O’Regan
Susie McCabe
Susan Riddell
Dan Tiernan
Celya AB
Kuan Wen Huang
Neil Delamere
Ian Coppinger
Eleanor Tiernan
Shane Clifford
Kevin McGahern
Sinead Culbert
Kyrah Gray
Chantel Nash
Louise Young
Daniel Foxx
Philipp Kostelecky
Vlad Ilich
Alexandra Haddow
Shawn Uyosa
Moshe Kasher
Marjolein Robertson
Shane Todd
Stephen Mullan
Karl Spain
Scott Bennett
Ciara Barnes
Fred Cooke
Josh Jones
Julie Jay
Abi Clarke
Darren Harriott
Jake Lambert
Seann Walsh
Marc Jennings
Fiona Frawley
Emman Idama
Peter Rethinasamy
Leroy Brito
Anna Clifford
Barry Murphy
Áine Gallagher
Anna Thomas
Aideen McQueen
Mark Simmons
Dylan Moran
Shane Daniel Byrne
Finlay Christie
Deirdre O’Kane
Enya Martin
Suzi Ruffell
Jason Byrne
John Lynn
Ray Bradshaw
Aideen Greene
Allie O’Rourke
Martin Angolo
Andrew Maxwell
Tommy Tiernan
Emma Doran
Eric Lalor
Tony Cantwell
Angela Barnes
Sinead Quinlan
Erin McGathy
Nghia Mai
Laura O’Mahony
Fabu D
Tara Flynn
Catherine Bohart
Marise Gaughan
Paul Tylak
Justine Stafford
Dermot Ward
Jasper Rees
Jenna Logan
Muireann O’Connell
Emily Lloyd Saini
Anna Leong Brophy
Georgie Jones
Will Sebag Montefiore
Philippa Carson
Stephen Buchanan
Abigoliah Schamaun
Ruth Hunter
Adam Hills
Roisin Conaty
Jena Friedman
Sally Philips
Zoe Lyons
Lucy Porter
Ed Byrne
Lou Sanders
Steen Raskopoulos
Carlo Ritchie
Jamali Maddix
Rosie Jones
Sam Campbell
Miwaan Rizwan
Rose Matafeo
Nish Kumar
Alan Davies
Jason Manford
Reginald D Hunter
Aisling Bea
Maeve Higgins
Sara Pascoe
James Acaster
Rich Hall
Dom Irrera
Paul Currie
Beth Stelling
Lauren Pattisson
Louise O’Neill
Ed Aczel
Lisa Meyer
Kathy Lette
Hannah Mamalis
Barry Rothbart
Kiri Pritchard McLean
Natalie Palamides
John Kearns
Ken Cheng
Maisie Adam
Jim Jeffries
Jonny Woo
Sarah Barron
Kevin Camia
Nina Conti
Kevin Bridges
T.J Miller
Panti Bliss
Al Porter
Fern Brady
Scott Gibson
Phil Jupitus
PJ Gallagher
Kevin Gildea
Ardal O’Hanlon
Owen O’Neill
Michael Redmond
Reuben
Joe Rooney
Frankie Boyle
Phil Kay
Fred MacAulay
Craig Hill
John Bishop
Dave Johns
Shappi Khorsandi
Lee Mack
Michael McIntyre
Paul Merton
Mark Watson
Carl Barron
Steve Hughes
Sarah Kendall
Lewis Black
Mike Birbiglia
Jeff Caldwell
Nick Griffin
Stewart Francis
Mike Wilmot
Glenn Wool
Andrew Stanley
Aidan Bishop
Tommy Nicholson
John Henderson
James Goldsbury
Gerry Mallon
Damian Clark
Dermot Whelan
Colum McDonnell
Dermot McMorrow
Paddy Courtney
Bernard O’Shea
Carol Tobin
John Colleary
Matt Sadlier
Michael Mee
Neil Hickey
Willie White
Jarlath Regan
Tom Stade
Josh Thomas
Matt Kirshen
Andrew Lawrence
Josie Long
Andy Parsons
Tim Nutt
Dave Fulton
Robin Ince
Russell Howard
Arj Barker
Danny Bhoy
Greg Fleet
Karen Dunbar
Marc Maron
Tom Gleeson
Moshe Kasher
Justin Moorhouse
Greg Davies
Alun Cochrane
Tim Key
Sarah Millican
Micky Flanagan
Jon Richardson
Simon Amstell
Bo Burnham
Tim Vine
Jack Whitehall
Wil Anderson
Hector O’hEochagáin
Keith Farnan
Nick Helm
Alex Horne
Carl Donnelly
Gar Murrin
Hans Teeuwen
John Mulaney
Ross Noble
Russell Kane
Kathleen Madigan
Shane Mauss
Jimeoin
Milton Jones
Hannah Gadsby
Rhod Gilbert
Ricky Grover
Dave Gorman
Greg Giraldo
Otis Lee Crenshaw
Derek Edwards
Brendan Dempsey
Alonzo Bodden
Bill Burr
Terry Alderton
Eddie Bannon
Todd Barry
Adam Bloom
Marcus Brigstocke
Rhona Cameron
Louis CK
Ian Cognito
Omid Djalili
Jake Johannsan
Daniel Kitson
Reggie McFadden
Richard Morton
John Shuttleworth
Mark Steel
Daniel Tosh
Johnny Vegas
Scott Capurro
Laura Kightlinger
Jeff Green
Peter Kay
Mitch Hedburg
René Hicks
John Mendoza
Sean Cullen
Mark Doherty
Armando Iannucci
Colin Mochrie
Kathy Kinney
Sean Masterson
Julie Larson
Bob Koherr
Rory Bremner
Dermot Carmody
Anthony Clark
Shang Forbes
Boothby Graffoe
Jeremy Hardy
John Hegley
Dominic Holland
Andy Kindler
Mark Little
Sean Lock
Kevin McAleer
Patrick McDonnell
Bob Mills
John Moloney
Graham Norton
Alan Parker
Greg Proops
Margaret Smith
Harland Williams
Jeffrey Ross
Pat Shortt
Samira Banks
Glenn Moore
Mike Rice
Vittorio Angelone
Ali Woods
Jack Skipper
Amy Gledhill
Milo Edwards
Laura Smyth
Mark Bittlestone
Dane Buckley
Alana Jackson
Kyla Cobbler
BBC RADIO 4
A director called Tom Morris was commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to make a documentary on The Cat Laughs in 1996 and one of the final segments involved an off the cuff interview on the bank holiday Monday with Eamon Langton. In very plummy tones, Tom goes: “I’m here with Mr. Eamon Langton, owner of Langton’s pub. Mr. Langton, it looks like you’ve had a good weekend sir. I counted 46 empty kegs out the front this morning”. With barely a pause, came the very hoarse reply: “46 out the front, 123 out the back”.
That really made me laugh.
BILL MURRAY
That same year our headline act was the actor and comedian Bill Murray, who’d come in a week early to rehearse for the Watergate and go on the Late Late Show with Gay Byrne. A whole load of things went wrong from the minute he touched down – from no early check-in at the hotel to a wrong sized car to a hugely delayed transfer to the studios in RTÉ. Bill was taking it all quite well, I thought, but as his car was being driven slowly out of the Jury’s carpark on Saturday morning (me waving a little too enthusiastically), he rolled down his window and fixed me with a single, lingering, mordant look. The one look said three things with astonishing clarity: “you’ve f**ked up quite a bit since I’ve arrived; I think you’re probably an OK guy. Don’t f**k up again.” I’ll never forget it.
KYTELER’S INN
We used to use Kyteler’s Inn quite a bit in the early years because the shape of the nightclub lent itself brilliantly to stand-up. In those days, a very prominent and expensive centrepiece of the room was a giant ceramic lion. In one gig, the Scottish comedian, Phil Kay found himself playfully swinging off the lion’s chin, when it came off in his hand and crashed to the floor. There’s always a unique kind of laughter that comes with something that’s both funny and wrong at the same time; without missing a beat, Phil asked if anyone had any glue and somewhat bizarrely our venue manager had a little tube of Bostik, which he handed over. Phil proceeded to take the insole out of his left sneaker and stick it where the chin had been so it resembled a big red tongue lolling about. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard laughter and cheering like this before, but it was exhilarating. The tongue was still there by Bank Holiday Monday, but the chin had disappeared.
NORM AND HOMER
During an Improv show in Hotel Kilkenny, the actor George Wendt (‘Norm’ from Cheers) was on stage with Dan Castellaneta (the voice of ‘Homer Simpson’). At one point, there was a power cut and the lights went out. In complete darkness and for about five minutes, George and Dan worked started up a dialogue using the voices of ‘Norm’ and ‘Homer’ and it was magical.
A RIVERCOURT GIG IN 2005
And then there was THAT gig in the Rivercourt Hotel in 2005, a North American line-up of Dom Irerra, Lewis Black and Mike Wilmot. Lewis opened with an electrifying, political, 20 minutes, followed by Dom with an observational 20 minutes that built brilliantly on the room’s energy; and then Mike Wilmot closed with a final 20 minutes of utter filth that brought down the house down – making it possibly the most talked-about show in the history of the festival. It’s honestly hard to say why it took off, but there was something in the air, I suppose, and the show got a spontaneous and prolonged standing ovation. In fact, it went so well, that the three of them made plans to tour together across the US, once they’d got home.
Other short memories included Johnny Vegas doing half of his set from an actual dustbin in a former sex shop in Parliament Street (Zoo); Steve Frost falling off the apron of the Watergate into the orchestra pit; Jeremy Hardy fast asleep in a hedge outside the Newpark Hotel on the final Monday (1997); and Woody Harrelson standing at the back of Cleere’s to watch his old pal George Wendt in the very first year.
From a personal point of view, I remember the thrill of hearing the American comedian, Emo Philips deliver one of my favourite routines live, in Kilkenny at the Watergate:
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”
He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”
He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!”
Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.
There were years when The Cat Laughs was so busy, that it felt almost like an audience invasion for the weekend and at that time I felt that our connection with the city was strained; a lot of people in Kilkenny left for the duration of the festival and I can see why. However, today my sense is that the scale and feel of The Cat Laughs has evolved to a point where it’s embraced and championed by the city and that’s something I’m particularly proud of.
See you in June.
Everything and anything should be expected with all those comedians intent on tickling your ribs. I can't think of a better way to start the summer.