Got Ambitions To Be A Comedian?

From the Cambridge footlights to Beyond The Fringe, university has always been a hotbed of comedy.

College is a time when shy teenagers who’ve been skulking about their home towns begin opening up and taking to the stage. Some of them even go into comedy.
Irish universities are perhaps not as renowned as stand-up laboratories as those in the UK.
Indeed, it could be argued there was little in the way of a comedy scene in Ireland until recent graduate of DCU Ardal O’Hanlon, along with Kevin Gildea and Barry Murphy, founded the International Comedy Club in 1988.
Until then, students with a hankering to get into stand-up had to seek out the Philosophical Society at UCC or the Literary and Debating Society in UCD. It was their only opportunity to be witty in front of a moderate crowd.
This was a well-worn path followed by the likes of Dara O Briain, the Irish Times National Debating Champ 1994, and Ardal O’Hanlon himself.
However, now Irish universities have caught up big-time and comedy societies are an easy find on Clubs and Socs day.

TRINITY
The grandly titled Dublin University Comedy Society in Trinity College is one of the best places to get into comedy.
Last year, it boasted roughly 450 members making it, along with UCD, one of the largest comedy societies in the country.
“We had a €2 comedy show once a fortnight throughout term time,” says current president Francis Breen. “They were all fairly well attended. I think our lowest attendance was about 25. The highest would have been 65-70, so they were a consistent success.”
Trinity also puts on stand-up comedy classes which gives aspiring stand-ups valuable stage-time and guidance on how to improve and prosper.
“We ran six week courses with new acts who wanted to do stand-up. Manus Cronin of No Pants Thursday did the classes and we had 14 people do stand-up throughout the year. Most are now active on the Dublin comedy scene.”

UCD
Ireland’s largest university is also home to one of the country’s major comedy societies. Formed in 1998, it helped nurture the talents of David O’Doherty, Jarlath Regan and Neil Delamere.
Under the recent stewardship of irrepressible Brazilian-Irish stand-up comic Sean O’Keefe Semple (who has departed for London this year) the society was highly active, running regular stand-up nights and open-mic nights.
These nights are an excellent and supportive place for aspiring stand-ups to get their start.
Twenty-year-old AJ Rodgers from Blanchardstown is one of the new breed of comic who began his stand-up career at UCD’s Comedy Society. “We’ve a lot of things in the works for the coming year,” he enthuses. “We’ve a comedy festival, comedy workshops, short films, classic comedy films in the cinema, and a regular stand-up night. There’ll be open mic spots as well.”

NUIG
The student comedy scene in Galway is going through a quiet patch but at its peak the NUI Galway Comedy Society saw membership reach top the 1,000 mark. Founded by comedian and writer Giles Brody, the society enjoys a fantastic relationship with the many great venues around the city. Robin Allen, president during its last period of manic activity, identifies this as one of the main attractions of the society to budding comics.
“We have a close connection with Roisín Dubh Comedy,” he enthuses, “and can frequently get free and discounted tickets for members. We often submit new stand-ups to ‘open spots’ supporting bigger comedians, such as Neil Delamere and Andrew Maxwell.”

NUIM
NUI Maynooth is the alma matter of comedy stalwarts like Pat McDonnell and John Lynn. Last year’s president was one of the stars of RTÉ’s New Comedy Awards, Colm Tyrrell. The SU Bar in Maynooth has played host to numerous big names down the years, such as Tommy Tiernan and David O’Doherty.

COMPETITIONS
If you’re confident enough to test your material against other stand-ups, competitions are a great way to climb the comedy ladder. UCD hosted an intervarsity competition last year, which was a great success and won by NUI Maynooth’s Colm Tyrrell. The UK-run Chortle Student Comedy Award ran an Irish heat in Dublin for the first time in 2013. The gig, which took place in the legendary International Bar, attracted a massive entry. The winner of the Dublin heat gets through to the semi-finals with the final taking place at the Edinburgh Fringe. The heats will be staged in February or March 2014.
So, if you’re entering student life, while harbouring clandestine dreams of making it as a stand-up comedy, you’d be foolish not to avail of the many opportunities afforded by university. And, even if you’ve no intention of ever going near a microphone, then join up to go along for the laugh and catch some great comedy. And remember the former motto of NUI Galway Comedy society: “You don’t have to be funny to join.”