Pussy Galore

AS COMEDY hep-cats go, they don't come much, em, hepper than Richard Cook. The brains behind Ireland's most unlikely festival success story, the silver-tongued impresario is currently overseeing his fifth Murphy's Cat Laughs comedy festival — a milestone he has chosen to celebrate by categorising this year's performers (albeit rather tenuously, but what of it?) in groups of five.

"At one stage I thought this year's festival was going to be slightly smaller than it has turned out to be," he explains. "I latched on to this idea of it being the fifth birthday, and I suppose I wanted this festival to be a celebration of the previous four, as much as anything else. Everything was kind of done in fives, which I suppose is a bit cutesy cute (laughs), but it's worked out quite nicely in that there's five American comedians, five Irish, five British, five new faces to Kilkenny and then a mixed bag of five.

In keeping with this idea of it being a celebration of past Cat Laughs, I think if I were to look down the list of comedians who are playing this year, there's only six who haven't played at the festival before. There's no real stars on the bill, but what we do have is lots of good quality stand-ups who are really quite relaxed about doubling up or trebling up with each other for bills that I, as an organiser, am really comfortable with."

Americans Renee Hicks, Lewis Black and John Mendoza are among this year's newcomers, while seasoned Kilkenny veterans such as Johnny Vegas, Kathleen Madigan, Jeff Green, Scott Capurro, Dom Irrera, Dylan Moran, Ed Byrne, Jimeoin, Jason Byrne, Owen O'Neill and the peerless Rich Hall — the only comedian in the world to have played at every single Cat Laughs festival — will also be arriving in the Marble City on Thursday 3rd June. Variety being the spice of life and all that, this year's grin-in will also include a cartoon festival and alternative bus tours of Kilkenny, with comedians acting as guides.

"In a way we wanted to develop things a bit this year, hence the idea of the cartoon festival and the bus tours," Richard expounds.

"We did the Kilkenny Exposed shows last year and it worked out very well, so I think the bus tours is just a development of that idea. What we're doing is taking something which is essentially local and having some fun with it, as opposed to poking fun at it. I mean, at this stage there are comedians who will openly confess to having something of an emotional attachment to the festival. Rich Hall is one, and Dom Irrera, for example, had never been in Ireland until 1996, and he's been back every year since. Because of that, we like to try and find ways that he can work without just banging out some stand-up. That's why we're confident the bus tours will work."

The fact that so many of the comedians on this year's bill know their way around Kilkenny without the aid of a map and compass would suggest that Richard Cook holds his personal favourites in greater store than comics that are trendy and flavour of the month. A fair point?

"Well, I think it's a combination of both," he muses. "Obviously I book comedians that I think are very funny, but particularly this year, if it's going to be the celebration I want it to be, then obviously I want people knocking about that I know I get on well with. Of course it is a personal odyssey to some extent — not just solely for me but for the people who are working with me — but the bottom line is that it's got to work and be funny. I think every year the festival has thrown up a couple of new faces that people have seen and thought 'Well, I wouldn't have seen him or her if it hadn't been for the Cat Laughs'. A couple of years ago it was Harland Williams, last year it was Dave Attell and this year we've got a guy coming over called John Mendoza who's been doing it at the top level in America for 15 years, but who wouldn't be particularly well known over here. Now he's coming over to try it out. The one thing I would stress is that the major excitement in terms of the new faces has to come from America."

It has?

"Yes, and I'll tell you why. It's because of television," comes the conspiratorial reply. "You see, stand-up comedians who make it in Britain tend to end up on television very quickly. Because of that, you can't bring over a comedian from England or Scotland and go 'Look who we've discovered!', because everybody knows who they are already."

A man who will try anything once — except incest and Morris Dancing — Richard seems particularly enthused about the cartoon festival (a "funny ha-ha" series of exhibitions by accomplished sketchmasters, as opposed to a "funny peculiar" Scandinavian cartoon festival on Channel 4) which is to be run in conjunction with this year's Cat Laughs.

"I suppose, in a sense, it just seemed to me to be a compatible art form," he explains. "I'm certainly no expert on cartoons, but Tom Mathews did an exhibition in Kilkenny about six weeks ago and it was great. And because Tom was here last year, he dreamt up a few Cat Laughs-related cartoons, which sowed the seed in my mind that it would be great to have some cartoonists to Kilkenny, who could exhibit here, see some shows and maybe do some cartoons while they're down here. I don't know what that's going to happen or how it's going to develop, but maybe we'll have a couple of workshops as well. The lads from Viz are bringing a collection of their best work, Ralph Steadman is coming over, we've got Steve Bell from The Guardian, Tom Mathews, Graham Keyes, Martyn Turner . . . I think it's a good gathering of cartoonists. I suppose you're always looking to develop it in some way, without getting too far away from the core of what the Cat Laughs is — a celebration of stand-up comedy and comedy improv.

Things like the cartoon festival and bus tours are fun too, though, because they're just extending the medium a bit, y'know."

The Murphy's Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, Kilkenny, Thurs 3rd – Mon 7th June.