Comic Deirdre hails People power
DEIRDRE O’kane has revealed bagging the stars of Normal People for the Comic Relief Telethon gave her the confidence to pull off the mega line-up.
The comedian, who is spearheading RTE Does Comic Relief alongside some of the biggest names in the business, also admitted Fleabag’s sexy priest Andrew Scott was top of her dream list for the event on Friday.
The jam-packed line-up boasts Irish talent from Niall Horan and Paul Mescal, Daisy Edgar-jones, Saoirse Ronan, Chris O’dowd and Dawn O’porter.
Lifting the lid on how she gathered such a starry list, she said: “What you start with is one or two cracking ideas and you think if I can get that and that, then that’s very appealing to tell other people that you have that.
“You go where you can go with your personal connections.
“One of the first people I went to was Andrew Scott and Ed Guiney to get Daisy and Paul involved. So once you have a couple of those stars, you have plough forward.”
Her admission comes as US actor Winona Ryder claims she was “saved” by watching Normal People in lockdown.
But experienced comic Deirdre, who has a career spanning three decades in the industry, admitted even she was surprised by how far and wide her contact book spread.
She added: “What’s funny about that is you don’t know you have that relationship with people, you just know you know people.
“I think what people respond to are good ideas. And you realise you’re in the business 30 years and you’re connected in a bigger way than you ever realised.”
She added: “Ironically, if there is any upside to this pandemic it’s that we got this together so quickly.
“This would normally take a year to put together.
“But because everyone is isolating, there’s advantages to artists stuck at home, not on the road, not busy and more than willing to participate.”
■ RTE Does Comic Relief airs Friday on RTE One at 8pm.
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