January blues? Here are seven nights of laughter
BRAY COMEDY FESTIVAL RETURNS THIS FEBRUARY WITH A RIP-ROARING LINE-UP OF STAND-UP, QUIZ NIGHTS AND SKETCHES, WRITES TOM GALVIN
If you have been suffering under the weight of those blue Mondays in January and need something to pull you out of the doldrums, then laughter is the best medicine and Bray is the place to be as there will be plenty of it in February.
Launched in 2015, Bray’s annual Comedy Festival hosted by Bray’s Adam Burke and the Hardy Har Comedy Club in conjunction with the Harbour Bar, is back with an extended festival that will hit the Whale Theatre in Greystones and the Mermaid Arts Centre, where top acts such as Jason Byrne, Jarlath Regan, Danny O’Brien and Colm Murphy will perform.
The festival runs for seven days from Monday, February 12, and tickets are going like hot cakes – we say going instead of selling, because some events are free. Read on to scour the line-up.
Monday, February 12: Gong Baby Gong
Bray Comedy Festival’s inaugural Beat the Gong competition is one for you, the punter, to try your luck at this comedy lark. If you think you’ve got what it takes to make an audience laugh and keep a crowd entertained then you can always sign up.
This competition night is open to all levels of comedian, with a €100 cash prize on the line and will kick off the first ever week-long Bray Comedy Festival. If you’d like to participate, you can fill in the entry form on the Hardy Har Facebook page, where eight acts will be selected
Plus there is a headline appearance on the night from Joe Dowlin.
Time: 8.30pm (doors 8pm).
Where: The Harbour Bar (upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: This is a free event.
Tuesday, February 13: Best New Act Competition. On the Tuesday, you can watch the best of new Irish talent battle it out to win the Best New Act Competition. Be kind, don’t heckle . . . too much . . . and remember, it could have been you, if you’d had the bottle! There is also a special guest headliner who will also try to be kind. Details will be revealed at a later stage.
Time: 8.30pm (doors 8pm)
Where: The Harbour Bar (upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €5 + booking fees
Wednesday, February 14: David McSavage David is stand-up comedy’s answer to spontaneous human combustion, an explosive and always surprising phenomenon that simply cannot be contained in a box.
His new show, If That Makes Sense, is described as a unique blend of energy, improvisation, and leaps of imagination that take his audience on a joyride they’ll never forget. Even David has no idea what might happen when he unleashes his crazy brand of improvised comedy mayhem. He possesses the rare gift of creating a space where audiences feel like they are kids again, all taking part in a practical joke.
Time: 8.30pm (doors 8pm)
Where: The Harbour Bar (upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €20 + booking fees
Thursday, February 15
Line-up Show
The Thursday Line-up Show will see three of Ireland’s leading comedians bring their material to show to Bray Comedy Fest, and this year you can get to give a warm Bray welcome to Sharon Mannion (Comedy Cellar), Sinead Culbert (DirtBirds) and Pat McDonnell (Father Ted).
Sinead is a stand- up comedian, comedy writer and actress. She is one part of the highly successful comedy duo and internet sensation Dirt Birds. As a stand-up comedian Sinead was a semi-finalist in ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ (Channel 4) and ‘Funny Women Awards’.
Pat is an Irish comedy icon having appeared in some of the most successful Irish comedy television shows including Fr Ted, The Savage Eye and Naked Camera.
Sharon is the resident MC of Ireland’s iconic Comedy Cellar, has appeared on IFTA winning comedy show ‘Bridget and Eamon’ and regularly performs on Ireland’s biggest comedy stages. Time: 8.30pm (doors 8pm)
Where: The Harbour Bar (upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €15 + booking fees
The Great Big Small Screen Quiz
Join the Hardy Har team for a unique quiz night that will put all your telly trivia to good use, with trivia, photo and audio rounds spanning a range of genres and your favourite classics – from sitcoms, crime, documentaries, reality TV and more. There will be prizes for the top three scoring teams, a spot prize for Best Dressed, plus interactive rounds including a Lovely Person competition (à la Father Ted) and a must-see performance of The Routine (from Friends).
Time: Doors / registration from 7pm
Where: Echo Bar, 7 Strand Road, Bray
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €10pp + booking fees (tables of four or two)
Friday, February 16
Bingo Loco Jukebox Jam
Bingo Loco is back in Bray and bringing all the madness to Koo Nightclub. Expect everything you know and love about Bingo Loco with even more tunes from the biggest decades, sing-alongs, lip sync battles, dance offs and more.
Time: Doors from 8.30 pm
Where: Koo, The Martello, 47 Strand Road, Bray T&Cs: Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €20 + booking fees
Fred Cooke and Julie Jay: Marriage Counselling
Fred Cooke and Julie Jay are back with their show ‘Marriage Counselling,’ so-named because their relationship is quite literally hanging on by a thread. This year they were thrilled to be up the duff again after Julie orchestrated a surprise pregnancy, with her truly gas ruminations on married life offset by Fred’s high-octane storytelling and hilarious punchlines.
Expect raucous riffs and big, big laughs from Ireland’s favourite comedy couple.
Time: 8pm (Doors 7.30pm)
Where: The Harbour Bar (upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €15 + booking fees
Saturday, February 17
Paddy Irishman, Paddy Englishwoman, Paddy Scotsman (Paul Marsh, Ben Verth and Elinor Murphy).
For Bray comedy regulars, these guys need no introduction. Three of the club’s favourite peeps have joined forces and launched their own podcast and at Bray Comedy Festival 2024, you get to see it live. Bray Comedy Festival regular and king of the puns Paul Marsh, Best New Act Competition winner Elinor Murphy and Hardy Har regular Ben Verth are bringing ‘Paddy Irishman, Paddy Englishwoman and Paddy Scotsman’ to The Harbour Bar for the first time.
Time: 6pm
Where: The Harbour Bar (upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €10 + booking fees
Colm O’Regan
He’s one of the favourites in Bray and one of the best. Colm is bringing ‘The Small Pale Nerd at the End of the World’ to Bray, for the first time. Colm explores boyhood, manhood, fatherhood, neighbourhood, sound masculinity, and the looming apocalypse. Along the way, find out how to use an old-fashioned obscene gesture to connect with the manosphere, how to redirect racists to more useful feelings, how to follow in your father’s footsteps but in your own way, how to just be a bit more useful.
Time: 8pm
Where: The Harbour Bar (upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €15 + booking fees
Karl Spain
No Bray Comedy Festival is complete without him. After a sell out UK and Ireland tour supporting the legendary Kevin Bridges, Karl has gone on the road himself with a wildly popular solo run and it is great he has added Bray to his itinerary.
Karl has played every big comedy and festival stage in the country and has gigged all over the world, rubbing shoulders with comedy giants and you can catch his new show live.
Time: 10pm
Where: The Harbour Bar (upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €20 + booking fees
Sunday, February 18: Bray Comedy Fest Wrap Party. It’s not over until the fat lady sings and you can join lots of special guests for the Wrap Up Bray Comedy Fest.
Time: 8pm.
Where: The Harbour Bar (Upstairs)
T&Cs: Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Over 18’s only.
Tickets: €10 + booking fees
Finally, over in the Mermaid Arts Centre, on Thursday and Friday, Jarleth Regan brings Yer Man: The Stand-up Comedy Show to town with Jason Byrne taking to the staged on Sunday with his new show, The Ironic Bionic Man.
Over in Greystones, the Whale Theatre welcomes Danny O’Brien for his Sweet Child O’Brien show on Thursday and Friday, with Colin Murphy on Saturday.
For bookings, go to braycomedyfest.ie