Entertainment
Neil turns torments into laughs for latest show
Arts Week with Judy Murphy
Neil Delamere, who returns to the Town Hall Theatre next Thursday night, was most recently in Galway in October for the city’s annual comedy festival.
During that visit, the Offaly comedian performed a 20-minute piece as part of a group show. This time it will be a 75-minute long solo outing so there will be 55 minutes of new material from his current show, he explains.
“It’s called Smartbomb; really it should have been called Six People who think less of Me this Year, but that wouldn’t fit on the poster”.
Smartbomb consists of anecdotes from Neil’s own life about people who “got on my goat last year”.
These include a nurse he encountered when bringing his granny to hospital. Clearly, he says, there is a language that medics and nurses speak that is not common among the rest of us and it’s a bit disconcerting
“So when she told me: ‘Your granny will be radioactive for about six hours – any questions?’, you bet I had questions!”
But that’s the joy of comedy, he says.
“If something goes wrong for most people, they just get annoyed and that’s it. I get annoyed but then my brain wonders ‘could I turn that into five minutes’?’.
Neil’s approach to creating material depends on the medium he is writing for. If it’s for weekly television shows such as RTÉ’s The Panel or The Blame Game on BBC, then it has to be about topical issues and involves reading all the newspapers.
“You have to research and think,” he says.
If it’s for touring as a stand-up, his approach is different.
“You have to think about what will be relevant for six months, so you go back to the stuff we all have in common like schooldays or the boss. . .the best stuff is personal.”
While Neil is always conscious of entertaining his audience – “I’m aware people are donating their night to us [comedians], when they could be doing other things, and they pay our wages” – when he is writing his shows, he begins with jokes he finds funny rather than trying to please other people. You have to, he says, because audiences are intuitive and will know if something genuinely interests and tickles you.
Neil fell into comedy, having graduated from DCU with a degree in computer programming. The moment he did his first gig he was hooked.
“I just knew if I could earn X amount of money doing it – and it was a small amount – I’d give up my job.”
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
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