Irish comedy has successfully crossed the pond, judging by the feedback from the New York Irish Comedy Festival.
No less a celebrity than Moby turned up for the BBC America screening of Father Ted at Manhattan’s Tribeca Bar & Grill to open the festival, and he then quizzed co-writer Graham Linehan during the Q&A which followed.
Father Ted, a big hit in Britain and Ireland is hoping for new “re-run” life in the U.S. (the series stopped production when “Ted” actor Dermot Morgan died last year).
Ted co-star Ardal O’Hanlon headlined the festival which played to huge audiences in New York.
Irish American comedian Colin Quinn of Saturday Night Live, was Master of Ceremonies at a packed Symphony Space event.
Navan man Tommy Tiernan and Dubliner Jason Byrne were funny, but the American-in-Ireland jokes didn’t go down so well with some of the audience. Danny Bhoy from Glasgow, the only Scottish participant, nearly outshone the lot of them with his cutting observations. Overall the reactions to the festival were good, thanks in no small part to the huge efforts of Tracey Ferguson, Noleen McCormack and Julie Ann Marshall (who also organized the Irish Film Festival last December), and should become a staple part of comedy in New York. ♦
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