The ministry of funny Corks

Brian Coughlan, head honcho at Cork’s City Limits club, reckons the real capital puts everywhere else to shame when it comes to comedy. “The Cork audiences are second to none,” he insists. “All you have to do is ask the comedians. Cork people are up for a laugh. Some venues are a bit corporate, it’s all about getting pissed. It’s not like that here, the atmosphere is very positive.”

The comedians appreciate a good crowd too.
“Everyone loves doing gigs here,” says Coughlan. “The big theatres aren’t the same, even though they make the most money. You need the intimate atmosphere.”
With a capacity of 300, City Limits steers clear of the “stadium comedy” vibe. But the People’s Republic still labours under the jackeen jackboot.
“The Dublin-based media never write about City Limits,” bemoans the Corkman. “hotpress is the first national publication that’s taken an interest in what we do. The local papers give us great coverage, but a lot of Dublin journalists think there’s nothing going on in the rest of the country worth covering.”
The club is now in its fifteenth year, but getting started in the early ‘90s was an uphill battle.
“There was nothing really there, nobody had heard of a comedy club,” recalls Coughlan. “It was a wasteland. I’d never been to a comedy gig in Cork in my life. The only proper comedy venue in the country was The International in Dublin.”
From Jason Byrne to Colin Murphy, City Limits has given many Irish comedians the start they needed. Dara O Briain put in a two-year stint as the club’s MC, while Tommy Tiernan played his first proper gig there in 1996. Coughlan could tell the boy had potential right away.
“From the very start, you could see something really cheeky about him,” he recalls. “He stood out more because it was his first time. He didn’t have any of the nerves you’d expect from someone doing their first gig.”
Tiernan hasn’t forgotten where he started.
“He’s been very loyal to the club,” Coughlan says warmly. “They all have, people like Des Bishop and the rest have kept coming back here too.”
The club also brought Rich Hall to Ireland for his first gig, an indication that Coughlan has little trouble persuading international comedians to make the journey to Cork.
“Jo Brand and Johnny Vegas played here when they could have filled a much bigger venue because they’d heard of us, and knew we were doing this for the right reasons,” he adds.
The audience in Cork is changing.
“For a long time it was very regular, but now it’s broadening out. Television is playing a huge part in bumping up the numbers. People seem to think that if someone’s on TV they must be good, which isn’t always the case. There’s definitely too much emphasis on television these days.”
Even talented comedians have had trouble making their act work on the telly.
“Jason Byrne is one of the funniest Irish comedians I’ve ever seen, he’s up there with Tommy and Dylan Moran,” he proffers. “But his TV show on RTÉ just didn’t work. It didn’t represent him. It wasn’t Jason’s fault.”
Having seen many comedians take their first steps on his stage, Coughlan has a few tips for the next generation.
“Keith Farnan and Jason Coughlan both have great potential,” he insists. “Jason has been coming on heaps lately. I’ve been giving him loads of spots and he’s improving all the time. Eoghan Keegan and Colin McCarthy are also very good.”
The best young talent in Dublin at the moment, according to Coughlan, is Jarleth Regan.
“Jarleth is a very smart guy. You can’t beat a clever joke. A lot of comedians around now, I won’t name names but they know who they are, come out with a load of knob jokes and it’s very boring. It’s the Brendan O’Carroll school of comedy and it’s not my cup of tea.”
It also helps if you put in the effort.
“The key to comedy is write, write, write,” Coughlan avers. “Too many comedians don’t change their material. That’s another problem with television, once you’ve used your material it’s out there, it’s stale, you can’t use the same punchline again – or you shouldn’t anyway.”
Despite the Dublin-centric mentality of the press, City Limits might be getting a spot in the limelight soon. According to Coughlan, RTÉ is considering a Lee Laughs series of televised shows from the venue, as a follow-up to Liffey Laughs. It’s no more than the club deserves, he reckons.
“This is the best venue in the country for comedy,” he concludes. “Ask any comedian who’s played here, that’s what they’ll tell you. The Cork crowd are the best.”