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 The Cat Laughs Reviewed
Telephone: 056 63837
E-mail:laughs@iol.ie
Official Website
If you missed out on this year's Cat Laughs festival and expected some consolation from
us, you've clicked on the wrong site. I'm sorry but it was brilliant and, by most
accounts, the best yet. It all kicked off on Thursday evening at the Cat Laughs pub with
drinks and nibbles in abundance and festival guru, Richard Cooke making a short,
understated speech to officially launch the five-day comedy cruise.
If I said that Ed Byrne's gig in Kytler's was the highlight of the first night, I don't
think I'd hear many arguments. The bauld, bald Eddie Bannon hosted while Marc Maron made
his festival debut as Byrne's warm-up act.
 The Apres Match team kept the Watergate crowd in
stitches on Friday night. Barry Murphy, Gary Cooke and Risteard Cooper went through Bill
O' Herlihy, Eamonn Dumphy, Johnny Giles, Frank Stapleton, Jim Beglan ("let's face
it") and even Kevin Myers to name but a few. Across the road in Cleere's theatre
Johnny Vegas was his usual ebullient self - caressing the audience into false security
before pouncing on them. On this night, Johnny's main victim was a hapless Spaniard whose
jumper (and sister) caught Mr Vegas' attention. Over in Bollards there was an intense
double bill of Rene Hicks and Colin Murphy and after this it was straight to the Ormonde
Hotel for Jimeoin, Harland Williams and Jason Byrne for an hilariously hectic end to the
day's comedy. Williams was excellent - one of my personal highlights of the weekend:
KID: Why is the sky blue ?
WILLIAMS: Because it reflects the sea.
KID: So why isn't it green from all the trees ?
WILLIAMS: There's two answers to that: number one - FUCK OFF. And number two…well,
there wasn't a number two…
Jason Byrne was as highly strung as ever, protesting that the room was built upside down
with the skirting board below the ceiling. After this, as for the rest of the weekend, it
was off to the festival club to get seriously pissed.
At lunchtime, Saturday the Kitty Flicks
commenced at the Mousetrap. Over three days some of the best Irish comedy shorts were
screened including the hilarious Flying Saucer Rock 'N' Roll with Ardal 'James Dean' O'
Hanlan. Also on Saturday afternoon (and Sunday) the Cat Laughs Cartoons exhibition was
held in the Hibernian Hotel, featuring some of the "most poisoned pens and sharpest
wits around". That night I experienced the dry wit of Sean Lock in the Mousetrap, the
insanely talented 'Best of Irish Improv', Eddie Bannon and half man / half fraggle, Ross
Noble all at the Village Inn.
Sunday evening in Cleere's Brian Appleton was explaining, with the aid of a slide show,
how he was responsible for shaping the history of Rock 'n' Roll - inventing everything
form Prog Rock to Grunge. Pop Music's answer to Zelig and arguably the funniest show of
the festival. Then it was over to Kytler's for Phil Jupitus who told three long stories
and screamed a lot.
On Monday, Barry Murphy did his German rocker thing at the Mousetrap before a
side-splitting show from Jeremy Hotz who had everyone in the pisses (including himself).
After this we went to Langton's to finally witness Kilkenny Exposed. My girlfriend had
heard that the piss was being taken out of her all weekend by Rich Hall and Dara O' Briain
so we had to see it for ourselves. Sure enough the hilarious Hall perused and scrutinised
On The Town With Edwina Grace, I was almost afraid to laugh until I turned around to see
herself in stitches which was nice. Anyway, she had it easy compared to the rippings that
some other Kilkenny People features received (I thankfully escaped) which proves that it's
a funny and slightly ridiculous paper after all.
For G'Nite Cats a lot of the comedians ran through their sets again. Everyone had about
ten minutes with Ed Byrne stealing the show (judging from audience reaction alone). The
brilliant Harland Williams' set was ruined by two braindead bitches down the front who
thought it really clever to howl throughout his routine. Idiots aside, this was the
perfect way to end the festival.
Pius Meagher
(To Richard, Lynn and all at the Cat Laughs, thanks for the tickets and all the laughs) |
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