Top of the class for Salthill teacher turned comedian!

A teacher turned comedian will recount anecdotes from his childhood as well as the shock death of a best friend in his first solo show at home in Galway.

Sean Begley from Salthill was always interested in stand-up, but his debut performance was so bad it put him off taking to the stage for the next two decades!

“It was the lowest common denominator stuff. It was a gig for the Bray Arts Society and Des Bishop was the headliner. I was so embarrassed I couldn’t face it again.”

Then a friend who ran a club in Bray encouraged him to do a spot in an ‘open mic’ gig, knowing he had tried it out while still at college. It led to a gig for the Bray Comedy Festival and after only three gigs he won the award for Best New Act in 2018. He was also shortlisted for RTE’s Stand Up and Be Funny 2019.

“All the Dublin comedians were going ‘who is yer man’. I just ran with it and started gigging around clubs in Dublin and Leinster. It took two years to write this show called ‘Tragic’, which is a tribute to my friend who died aged 37. I’m even getting emotional talking about it now even though it’s been seven years.”

The pair went to primary and secondary school together before trying science at NUIG and ultimately training as primary teachers at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.

His friend stayed in Galway, while Sean moved to Bray where he met his wife to be in the seaside Wicklow town. The pair have made it their home, raising their four children, aged 6, 9, 13 and 15.

‘Tragic’ brings the audience on the journey of their lives and his untimely death. It also recounts some renowned incidents in Galway in the ’90s as well as some of the more hilarious utterances of his beloved grandad, whose sense of humour he inherited.

“It’s a lot of reminiscing. It’s quite self-indulgent. It’s sad in parts but it’s very funny as well, there’s lots of puns in there. I sing as well, which is a new addition to the show. It’s kind of morphed into more of a performance piece – God that sounds pretentious doesn’t it?”

Clearly audiences don’t think so. Debuting at the Bray Comedy Festival 2020, shows quickly sold out.

The 46-year-old is currently writing his new show, Faux Pas, which reflects on mistakes he has made and learned from as well as the more famous mistakes of celebrities and people in power.

“You have to embrace your mistakes – I didn’t realise that in my 20s.”

So far, he hasn’t much used his experience as a teacher of second class pupils in a Gaelscoil for material, but the world is his oyster.

“I have started using a few snippets bit by bit. I learn so much from them every day. I am probably going to start doing more of it because it’s part of who I am – I’ve been a teacher for 22 years.”

He has a policy of never using bad language if he’s talking in the first person but will indulge in the odd swear word if he’s quoting somebody in an anecdote.

“I don’t think it’s necessary. I try to avoid any racy topics,” he admits

So, is Sean nervous about bringing such a personal story back to his hometown?

“I had always planned to finish it in Galway because so much of it is about growing up there, the places will all be familiar to a local audience. It’s a fitting place to perform it for the last time.”

Sean Begley performs in ‘Tragic’ in the Róisín Dubh on Sunday, March 27 from 8pm Tickets cost €12.