Rude but funny

Date Published: 22-Feb-2008

Comedians from Ireland and further afield are due to flock to Galway for the third Galway Comedy Festival which runs from March 20 to 24.

Tommy Tiernan, PJ Gallagher Rich Hall, Phil Jupitus and Colin Murphy are just some of those taking part in the event, which is fast becoming a landmark in the Irish comedy scene.

Colin Murphy is best known from RTÉ’s The Panel, which he has regularly hosted since Dara Ó Briain went off to seek his fortune in London. The Panel, with regulars including Andrew Maxwell, Neil Delamere, Dermot Whelan and Mairead Farrell, is hugely popular, and last Monday afternoon Murphy and his colleagues are getting set to perform a gig in Ennis.

Like so many of their other Irish gigs this season, it is a sellout. “This is the closest I’ve ever been to being in a band,” says Murphy with a laugh. “We were in Castlebar the other night, playing a 1500 seater gig and it was sold out. I think people like the fact that we are sitting around talking nonsense — it could be them and any of their friends doing it.”

With his wry laconic Northern wit and his acute observations of everyday life Colin Murphy is one of the most sought after names on the Irish comedy circuit. He has also……………