Comedy Cast

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from English comedian/comedy character actor, Maddy Anholt. We dive straight into Maddy's type of comedy, character comedy, what she loves about it and, if things go badly, how she can blame the characters if and when things go wrong. We go back to beginnings then and speak about growing up on Devon before moving to London to pursue a career in acting and comedy. We speak about her new show which she'll be performing at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Herselves. A show about the different personalities we use in our daily lives. We talk about the idea behind the show and Maddy admits to liking to play different characters in her daily life with different people as well. We chat about the lack of comedians who play different characters on stage and how the people who do it find it so liberating to take on a persona and delve into comedy that wouldn't normally suit their on-stage persona. Maddy recently set

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from American stand-up comedian Turner Sparks. We kick off the interview speaking about how he learned to play Gaelic (Irish) football while living in China. There's no getting around it, Turner Sparks is a pretty cool name, so we get talking about about our porn star names. We speak then about Irish Americans and why Americans in general feel the need to identify with the homelands of their ancestors. We speak about Turner's role in establishing one of the first English-language comedy clubs in China, the Kung Fu Komedy Club. We talk about how and why Turner moved to China and how after a year he opened an ice-cream truck business. That lasted for 10 years until the Chinese government got involved. We chat then about how Turner had always wanted to be a comedian and about why he was so eager to set up a comedy club when the chance presented itself. We get onto the difficulties of running an English-language co

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian, Ger Staunton. We kick off the interview and we speak about an Edinburgh preview show Ger had just performed in London along with previous Comedy Cast guest Danny O'Brien. I ask him about the nature of preview shows and about how much a set will change from the previews to the actual Edinburgh set. We speak too about learning to be critical of your work and how sometimes it doesn't matter what you think of a bit, it's the audience that are the best judge of new material. We speak about Ger's podcast with former Comedy Cast guest Martin Angolo, Canary in a Comedy Goldmine, where Martin tests out new material on Ger. It's a brilliant podcast and I urge you all to subscribe, the lads are hilarious together. I tell Ger that I get the impression for other comedians in Dublin that he's somewhat looked up to, but he reveals it's not because of his talent as a comedian... We speak about Ger'

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from American stand-up comedian, Ryan Bourassa. We kick off the interview and we get straight into comedy. The comedy scene in Las Vegas has always been a strange one, so I asked Ryan for his opinion on it. I ask Ryan about the inspiration behind one of my favourites jokes of his, involving Ikea and a baby and how parts of the internet turned on him for it. We speak about skirting the line between what is offensive and what's funny and how comedians have to always be aware of it and aware that's it changes from comedy club to comedy club and from different areas and on top of that with the politicial landscape changing almost daily too. Ryan also talks about how the same joke can get a completely different reaction from different crowds even on the same night. We speak about Ryan's really outstanding podcast Mental Chillness, a solo podcast where he speaks candidly about his battle with Borderline Personality Dis

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from American stand-up comedian, Jeremy Pace. We kick off the interview speaking about Missouri where Jeremy's from, I know very little about the state so I was keen to know what it was like growing up there for Jeremy. We get talking then about the commonalities we share in both growing up in small rural towns and that god-awful Dutch outfit Scooter get a dishonourable mention. We chat then for a bit about Jeremy's day job where he helps people with addictions and we speak too about his own battles with addiction in the past. We also talk about why drug addiction is so common among creatives. We talk then about how former addicts use comedy to deal with their pasts and how when they meet together they love trading funny/horror stories with each other. We speak about how and why Jeremy got into comedy and his previous career in Burlesque in Washington DC. We talk too about a stand-up comedy course he took before

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian and Jesters Comedy Club chief Chris O'Neill. We kick off the interview speaking about where Chris in from in Ireland, a place called Naas. Although well known in Ireland, Naas' reputation isn't widely known, that's probably a good thing though... We also talk about his what Chris studied as a student and I finally got to ask something I've always wanted to ask a politics student. We speak about where Political Satire is going wrong in Ireland, and why it's hard to perform satire aimed at Irish politicians in front of Dublin audiences. We dig a bit deeper then on the subject and discuss why we don't see enough comedy on Irish television. We get onto Jesters Comedy then. Regular listeners will know that the Jesters name pops up a lot when we have guests based in Dublin on the show and it was the reason I wanted to speak to Chris. We get into comedy promotion here and how he runs the nig

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian Niamh Marron. We kick off the interview speaking about coming from County Monaghan and why the county produces so many excellent stand-up comedians. And poultry farms. Niamh was a photography student before getting into comedy so we spoke about that for a bit and if there's any cross over between photography and comedy, and her mighty Instagram page. We speak too about her final college project, something really cool where she mixed photography and comedy. We speak about how and why she got into comedy. We talk then about what it's like to die on stage and how with Niamh it makes her more determined to right that wrong the next time she's on stage. We chat about one incident in particular when she had the unfortunate experience of a whole room turning against her, but she explains how she won them back. We have a chat about her experience on Britain's Got Talent and how their toilets

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish actor, comedian and writer Tom Moran. We kick off the interview speaking about a favourite of Irishmen when they get talking; the weather. We get onto living in Dublin then and Tom tells a mad story about what he was expected to do to get a flat on Dublin's Capel Street. Tom hosts the wildly successful podcast Personality Bingo, so we speak about the idea behind the show and how it's been going. We get talking then about Tom's web series Fix Me, we get deep on it and talk about the writing of it and the challenge of writing about a therapist and a patient. Tom is also a contributing memeber of the Facts Channel. You will probably know about them by now having had a few guests on from the crazily successful YouTube channel, so we get talking about that, how he got involved and what he likes about it. We dug a bit deeper on the subject too and we pondered upon why tradition media outlets don't try to get

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from English stand-up comedian and satirist, Tiernan Douieb. We kick off the interview with me telling Tiernan about how I sacrificed a Pavlova date to be with him and then we get into where he gets his awesome name from. Usually with the podcasts I tend to wait until towards the end before speaking about guests' podcasts, but with Tiernan I wanted to get straight into it. Tiernan has a really mighty podcast every week called Partly Political Broadcast. If you have any interested in British politics at all you should subscribe to it because it's pure mighty. He mixes satire, gags and serious topics absolutely brilliantly so it was really mighty to speak to him about the podcast. Of course, because the podcast is politically motivated we delved into British politics. We bitch about Theresa May and the Conservatives, Brexit, and the upcoming Scottish dilemma. The lies on a 'massive effing bus' gets a mention as we

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian, Damien Kiely. We kick off the interview with Damien telling me about his bittersweet weekend, a communion for one of his kids and a cat funeral. We speak about where Damien is from, what he calls the Harlem of Dublin. We talk about what's been happening in Ireland that's been making headlines recently but we end up speaking about burying animals in the backyard and Scientology. Stephen Fry gets an honourable mention as well. We chat about how and why Damien got into comedy and he tells me about how hitting the big 4-0 was a real turning point for him in his life. Damien speak about his first ever gig in the Ha'penny Inn at the Battle of the Axe, and about how a couple of Dutch tourists were nice enough to laugh along even though they'd no idea what was going on. We speak about the Dublin comedy scene, its community spirit and how encouraging it is for new comedians. Damien speaks

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from American stand-up comedian, Liam Breunle. I came across Liam a few weeks ago on Instagram and when I read his bio I knew I had to get him on the show. Here it is: "Former accounts receivable for the Italian Mafia, Felon, ex-WWF wrestler, Biker...Comedian, What the hell...right?" Now if that doesn't grab you as interesting then we're very, very different. We speak about Liam's past, how he was a successful wrestler, how that led to him working for the Italian mafia, after a brief stint in prison. We speak about how he was framed for murder by cops and ended up in prison again, this time for more than 4 years and how it nearly killed him. Liam talks about the trauma he went through as a child, being adopted and victim of child abuse. We speak too about him suffering from PTSD thanks to his times in prison. We chat then about how Liam got into comedy, how he's always been an avid reader and a sponge for learnin

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from English stand-up comedian, Travis Jay. We kick off the interview and we speak about Travis' heritage and some of the stories his immigrant grandparents told him about coming to Britain from The Caribbean. We speak too about the silent Tory supporters and how social media is a terrible indicator for what's happening in the real world. We speak about growing up in a house of comedy. Travis' mother is none other than Angie Le Mar, so we speak about being the son of a successful comedian and about the moment when he realised that she wasn't just a mother to him but was in fact, a successful comedian. The conversation then turns to us speaking about what kind of pressures that brought on Travis when he started comedy, both internally and externally. Travis almost became a professional basketball player before he got into comedy, so we speak about that for a bit. Travis also reveals that while in college he wrote a

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from American Stand-up Comedian, Chris Barnes. We kick off the interview and speak about where Chris is from, Long Island. He's our second Long Islander is less than a month, which is pretty mad. We speak about what Chris did in college and how it helps him with his role at Stand Up NY, one of New York's longest running comedy clubs. We talk about how and why Chris got into comedy and how he started it all off at the tender age of 17. That lead us on to discuss how even though he was too young to be served a beer in the clubs he was gigging in that the other comics were really supportive of such a young person getting into stand-up. We chat then about gigging in some legendary comedy clubs in New York and just how surreal it must be to thread the same stage as your comic heroes. We speak some more about Stand UP NY then, Chris' role in the club and how he became involved with them. We get nerdy then on Chris' w

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish Comedian, Steve Bennett. Steve is Irish comedian of the year so we kick off the podcast by speaking about a tour he'd just completed in Australia on the back of that achievement. Steve hails from Laois in Ireland, so we speak about growing up there for a bit. Take the train through it though, don't bother stopping he says. Before getting into comedy Steve was a teacher, so we speak about that and how he got to live in France for a while thanks to it. While there he documented his life with a very funny web series called Hey France on his YouTube channel. We speak about how and why Steve got into comedy, and popping two cherries on the night of his first gig. We speak more about being Irish comedian of the year, the competition. What doors have been opened for him and if he feels any pressure thanks to the award. We speak about how Steve uses music in his act and we get talking about music comedy albu

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Australian stand-up comedian, Wayne Carter. We kick off the interview speaking about the glamour of stand-up comedy, baked beans for dinner and spring cleaning. Wayne comes form a small rural area ins Australia, so we speak growing up there and about how it was the kind of place that had 'one of everybody'. Wayne's family ancestry is Scottish-Jewish. Yes, we joke about it. Wayne regales me with a romantic tale of passion when he first visited Dublin's fair city. We speak about how and why he got into comedy and what he remembers of his first gig. Wayne wears fetching dressing during his set, but Wayne tells me that straight audience think it's weird, gay audiences think it's not outlandish enough. We speak about Wayne's variety show; Gay Shit, coz it's Gay and it's shit....his words. We speak more about Wayne's show and how it tries to straddle both the gay and straight world, how it's both funny and inc

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from British stand-up comedian Ola. We get straight into things and speak about his YouTube series of videos called Humanise Ola. We speak about his Nigerian heritage and where his name comes from and how holding onto that heritage is important to him. We speak about how and why Ola got into comedy and how he used to love downloading comedy when he first got the internet, even though it wasn't his most downloaded form of entertainment. We talk about how terrible comedians can be really inspiring. We spoke about how Ola likes to explore new cultures and his need to learn about new places when he visits them with his stand-up show. We touch on the topic of race and how when starting out it was both a help and a hindrance being from a minority community. We speak about a character he used to play Leon Askwith, where the inspiration came from to play an aristocrat with an interest in rap and why more comedians don

http://thecomedycast.com/ Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from American stand-up comedian Tim Dillon. We begin the interview with Tim educating me about Long Island because I barely know anything about it. We speak about a few of Tim's old jobs and we discuss how it's kind of weird that stand-ups are all really crap at sales jobs, where you'd expect lying to be part of the course. We get talking about about how crack houses can be a lot of fun when you're 13 and how he got into drink and drugs. We have a laugh about the single worst piece of reality TV: Undercover Boss and why it's such a god-awful piece of shit. We chat then about about comedy reviewers and how many of them don't really get Tim's material, calling him a contrarian when in reality he doesn't take different sides to stir shit, he just wants to explore different angles when questioning something. We speak about the whole idea of punching up in comedy....but he puts me in my place saying 'punch everywher

http://thecomedycast.com Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian Jonathan Sheehan. We kick off the conversation talking about my recent run in with a South African record producer company, sorry, it was just something I had to get off my chest. Jonathan hails from Tullamore in Co. Offaly so we chat about the 3 things I know about Tullamore, Irish hiphop, whiskey and a former Irish Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, and he fills me in with more local knowledge Jonathan used to run comedy nights in the Irish midlands, exotic places such as Mullingar and Birr, so we spoke about everything involved with putting on comedy in provincial towns in Ireland. We speak about what Jonathan does for a living and how he used to use it for material for his sets. We chat then about how and why Jonathan got into comedy and he speak about a comedy course he took before his first gig. We have a natter then about why so many Irish people emigrate to Australia and how not go

Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Scottish stand-up comedian Rosco McClelland. Rosco's from Scotland but he'd just been touring with some Irish comedians in Australia so we got talking about some of the new Irish slang he'd learned from them. We both then profess our undying and unwavering love for American pop/punk masters Weezer, really I love that band and I won't have a bad word said against them. It seems to me that Scottish comedy is going through a revival, more successful comedians are coming out of Scotland and there are more and more comedy nights all over the country now so I ask Rosco if can he explain this revival and the purple patch Scottish comedy seems to be going through. Search for Rosco on Youtube and you'll get a ton of rap battles; so I ask him about hip-hop and we talk about him having been a drummer in a punk band before comedy. We speak about how and why Rosco got into comedy, and he tells a great story of trying out his first joke on none ot

Hello and welcome back to The Comedy Cast; today you’ll be hearing from Scottish/Thai stand-up comedian Wiz Jantarasorn. We kick off the interview speaking about Gok Wan & Alan Carr, Wis reveals why. Wis is from Leith, just north of Edinburgh so we get talking about that and how the small port town has changed over the years. We get topical then and speak about Theresa May triggering Article 50 for Brexit, being against a second Scottish Independence Referendum, Scotland having zero Conservative party members in the Scottish parliament and just how crazy it must be to live in Scotland at the moment under such conditions. We get into comedy then and speak about how long Wis has been doing it and how and why he got into it. Wis speaks about how quickly he learnt to read crowd reactions so that he'd know how far he could go with certain topics and jokes. We chat about how Wis' sets have evolved over the years and how he has the confidence to go back to early material and rewrite it with a new perspectiv