New NYC comedy festival seeks sponsors

Irish comedy producer Dara Kiernan wants to give Irish comics in the US the platform they deserve

“Rory’s will probably host three nights during that period.”

Other venues across New York are also being considered.

With premiere Irish comedy talents like Andrew Maxwell, Ardal O’Hanlon, Barry Murphy, Colin Murphy, Deirdre O’Kane, Carol Spain, Neil Delamare and PJ Gallagher in the mix, it’s sure to be a big hit.

“Three comedians will be working at three different venues per night,” says Kiernan. “They’ll rotate the nights on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday.

“The exciting thing about it is introducing long established and famous Irish talents to U.S. audiences. American audiences might only know a little about them but they’ll find out and be delighted. We’ll sneak in, in that Irish way, and make a bit of noise while we’re there to ensure everyone comes to see us.”

O’Hanlon is already a huge cult star for two decades in the U.S. thanks to his unforgettable turn as the moronic Father Dougal in the hit Irish comedy show Father Ted, so he will be a massive draw.

“Ardal’s a massive star in the US, so is Peter Gallagher, thanks to YouTube. Conan O’Brien saw his new program Meet the Neighbors on the net and went nuts for it,” says Kiernan.

“He said he laughed so hard he forgot to meet his wife for lunch. That’s exactly the level of talent we’re talking about here.”

Currently the new festival is in discussion with several potential corporate sponsors in the U.S. for the transport bill for the shows.

“We’re hoping that people in the corporate world will see something they’d like to get involved in.  Once we do New York we’re planning to include Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and anywhere there’s a major hub of Irish fans. We estimate we could reach up to 10 million people with the scale of the show,” Kiernan said.

One of the events already scheduled will be a Gaelic football game between the Irish comedians and the NYPD Gaelic football team at Gaelic Park in the Bronx, with proceeds going to the Survivors of the Shield charity. Now if that’s not a recipe for fall down comedy what is?

Keep an eye out for tickets and dates in the Irish Voice.

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Nster.com