Teacher Shinanne on a mission to get the Wee County laughing

Louth woman Shinanne Higgins is on a mission to get the Wee County laughing. As the driving force behind Dundalk’s successful Louth Laughs, she was also involved in the recent Drogheda Comedy Festival and the north East Comedy Collective.

A primary school teacher, she is in the fairly unique position of transcending the north-south rivalry that colours much of what happens in Co Louth.

“I live in Dundalk, my mother had the Sunshine Bar in Bridge Street, but went to school in Drogheda I don’t care about all the negative publicity around the rivalry, I want to bring both towns together.”

Shianne feel into comedy almost accidently.

“I was living in Myanmar in Asia when I saw an ad for a comedy workshop and signed up for it. The ad said if you had any material to bring it along so I wrote two stories.”

When she arrived at the workshop, she discovered that all the other participants were comedians that she had seen performing.

“They all got up and did their routines and then I got up and read my stories. They all said that it was actually very good and invited me to perform the following Tuesday.”

She did just that and found herself performing before an audience of around 170 people.

“It’s actually one of the biggest audiences I’ve ever performed before.”

“I got thrown in at the deep end and would probably never have put myself in that position otherwise. I was really nervous and ran off and got sick, went back on stage and had a great time. I was hooked from then on.”

“I came home in 2017 and wanted to do comedy but there was nothing locally. I did a Masters in Education and qualified in March 2020 and was about to go back on the comedy scene, when the country went into lockdown, so it was really bad timing.”

As the country re-opened, she found herself at an Open Mic night in the Tipsy Cow. “I was with my friends who were in the band Avocado Rocks and I was asked to go on stage, and that’s how it started.”

She then started the free monthly Louth Laughs comedy night in the Church Street venue in July 2022 and this month is delighted to welcome its 100th comedian to the stage with none other than Kevin Gildea on Friday night.

“Kevin is best known for playing Father Cave in Father Ted and has been a stalwart on the comedy scene in Ireland since the 90’s, she says.

He will be joined by other great acts, including Darren O’Toole, who will soon be performing stand up for a Warner Brothers production which will be streamed across America.

She is delighted to have been able to provide a platform for local comedians.

“I’m over the moon at the success of the club. It takes a lot of work and a great commitment from venues to ensure that comedy clubs remain running, so I am delighted that Louth Laughs has been able to reach this massive milestone”.

She attributes this to ensuring that there is a high consistency of talent taking to her stage each month and also having support from The Tipsy Cow. “I might be biased, but there should be comedy venues in every town and village in Ireland...and they should all be packed to the rafters. Post covid Ireland is exploding with comedy talent. Louth Laughs is a free comedy night and we have a regular crowd that keeps coming back! That’s because they know that they are getting fantastic free entertainment from the best and funniest talent in the country.”

“As a comedian, I perform all around Ireland and I get to see great acts, comedians that I know will make it big. I am delighted to be able to attract them to the town because Louth Laughs is becoming synonymous with great comedy so comedians are willing to drive from all over Ireland to perform”. “

“Being a border town means we attract the best comedians both north and south of the border”.

Thanks to Louth Laughs local talent such as Lisa Casey, Elizabeth Redmond, Ellen O’Reilly, Kevin Larney and Emer McGinnity have performed in town and it attracts many big named acts such as Craig Campbell, Edwin Sammon, James Goldsbury, Joe Rooney, Joe Dowlin and Aideen McQueen.

Shinanne says that the Irish comedy scene is very supportive and she was delighted to be help organise the recent Drogheda Comedy Show.

“A lot of my friends have set up comedy clubs and we all support each other. We collaborate and help each other out. I don’t see any of it as competition. There’s not enough venues for people to build up a following, so the more the better.”

When venues like the Spirit Store and An Tain Arts Centre attract big names like Tommy Tiernan or Karl Spain, Shinanne says that there’s room for smaller places as well.

“Tickets for acts like that cost €25 or €30 and not everyone can afford that. It is amazing to get acts like that in Dundalk but there’s really only a handful of names that are famous. There are hundreds of other really fantastic comedians and they’re the ones we’re bringing to town. There’s space for everybody.”

Shinanne also performs around the country and so far this year, she has competed in the finals of Ireland’s Best New Act, Ireland’s Next Top Comic and the prestigious Toilet Duck Awards.

2024 is proving to be Shinanne’s year as she has been offered her first solo show 10 Things They Hate About Me at the Edinburgh Fringe show. She will also be co-running three mixed bill Irish line-up shows each day at the festival.

Last year Shinanne ran two mixed bill shows in Edinburgh where she had various Irish comedians perform.

Shinanne says that making connections in Edinburgh helped her to discover and attract some of the best upand-coming acts to the Louth Laughs stage. “Performing in Edinburgh was a dream for me. It not only gave me the opportunity to perform over 50 gigs in a month, but it also gave me a newfound confidence in my performance and prepared me for the huge undertaking of my first solo show.” This year Shinanne plans to perform over 80 gigs at Edinburgh Fringe this August.

Free tickets to Louth Laughs can be booked online on Eventbrite and the venue also allows walk-ins.