Laughter the best medicine at Laugh Out Louth Festival
Local actor Anthony Kinahan is one of the brains behind Laugh Out Louth (LOL), Louth’s inaugural comedy festival taking place in Drogheda at the weekend with the aim of getting people, particularly men, talking about mental health.
The Dromiskin man, who talks freely about his own encounters with mental health issues in the past, is a firm believer that ‘ laughter is the best medicine’ when it comes to bringing mental health out into the open.
‘It’s something that is very close to my heart and we all known people who have been affected by mental health issues,’ he says.
As a member of An Táin Arts Centre’s theatre company in residence, Quintessence, he has seen how a production such as ‘Cracks’, which returns to the Crowe Street venue for three performances on October 17, can get people talking about a topic too often brushed under the carpet.
Drama and comedy, he believes, ‘opens up the issue, takes the stigma out of it.’
He explains that the idea for the comedy festival came from Bairbre Kelly, who works as a counsellor in Drogheda. ‘She found that men are very reluctant to come forward. Out of ten calls she’d get from men, most of whom would say they were inquiring for a friend, only two would actually turn up for an appointment.’
Following on from a health and well being seminar featuring Bressie in Drogheda last year, Bairbre and himself came up with the idea of using comedy as a way of getting men talking about mental health.
‘I know some comedians such Micheal Kierans, Louise Kiely, Kelly Kierans, and it grew from there,’ he says.
Once word went out that they were organising Laugh Out Louth (LOL), they found that comedians were literally lining up to get involved. ‘We have a great line-up with people like Deirdre O’Kane who is of course from Drogheda, Collum McDonnell from Dundalk, Eleanor Tiernan from Navan, as well as Joe Rooney, while Eric Lalor from Fair City approached us when they heard about it.’
While all the acts will be touching on mental health during their routine, Anthony says that people needn’t be worried that they are in for a night of heavy discussions. ‘Laughter is the best medicine and this is about raising awareness in an enjoyable way.’
There’s a special ‘ Totally PG’ show in The Little Duke Theatre on Saturday afternoon aimed at older children, teenagers and parents.
Alongside the comedy shows in McPhail’s Bar and the D Hotel, there is a Sunday Chill Out Chat in the Droichead Arts Centre with Mayor Pio Smith, sports and fitness guru Andrew Hageman and Bairbre Kelly which will allow a discussion about mental health issues.
All proceeds from the festival will go to The Samaritans.
Anthony is also appearing in Quintessence Theatre’s play ‘Cracks’ dealing with of the subject of mental health in young people, which comes to An Táin Arts Centre on October 17. The play was devised by the cast and draws from their own experiences with mental health issues.
‘I have suffered from depression and anxiety in the past,’ says Anthony.’If someone has a broken leg, they do what they need to get it fixed and there’s no stigma around that. If you have an affliction of the mind, why should it be any different?’
‘I feel stronger having gone through it,’ he says. ‘People live day to day with mental health issues, people deal with the ordinary day to day stuff at the same time as coping with these issues, so they are the strong ones.