Billy Connolly has been making folk laugh since the early ’70s, when he quit the day-job – he was a welder and subsequently a folk singer – to try his hand full-time at comedy.

It’s certainly paid off, for what the world lacks in Connolly-welded produce, it makes up for in, um… Connolly-produced laughs. The bearded Glaswegian – ‘the big Yin’ to fans – brings his hilarious brand of humour to the Waterfront Hall Auditorium, Belfast on April 5 and 7, before heading to the capital for two more shows (Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, 10, 12).
Also this fortnight, Reginald D. Hunter continues his series of Irish dates with a shedload of stop-offs around the Emerald Isle (see interview opposite). The Georgia-born comic relocated to the UK in the ’90s to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. There, he performed a stand-up set as a dare, but realised that a) he liked it, and b) he was pretty darn funny. The current show, In The Midst Of Crackers (teehee), sees Hunter visit Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, (March 28), Roisin Dubh, Galway (March 30, 31, April 1), Dolan’s, Limerick (April 3), O’Keeffe’s, Tipperary, (April 5), Forum, Waterford (6), Bogger’s Lounge, Louth (April 9), Shamrock Lodge, Dublin (11).
April also sees the stage adaptation of The Full Monty roll into town. Based on the 1997 film starring the excellent Robert Carlyle, the story follows a group of unemployed steel workers in Sheffield, who form an unlikely striptease act. If nudity’s your bag, and c’mon, you know it is, the stage show runs from April 8 – 12 in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.
Tommy Tiernan meanwhile takes to the Vicar St. stage for two Stray Sod performances this fortnight. The Navan man added the shows – on March 28 and 30 – such was the demand for his oh-so-dry hilarity.

BEST OF THE REST
Karl Spain, Laughter Lounge, Dublin (April 4, 5, 6), Steve Spade, ‘Magician to the Stars’, Grand Social, Dublin (April 9), Aidan Bishop, Laughter Lounge (April 11), and Pat Shortt, Radisson Blu, Galway (April 6).