Irish America

Comedy

Origin 1st Irish Presents Des Bishop’s “Mia Mamma”

IA Newsletter January 1, 2022

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Five nights in four different venues across New York City.  Kicking off the festival starting January 6, Ireland’s mega-popular comedian and media figure (and Flushing native) Des Bishop brings us his new comedy show about the loss of his much-adored mom. This is the US premiere engagement of “Mia Mamma” which was beginning a national tour in Ireland in early 2020 before … [Read more...] about Origin 1st Irish Presents Des Bishop’s “Mia Mamma”

Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry

IA Newsletter January 22, 2022

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1st IRISH 2022 PRESENTS 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION OF BLOODY SUNDAY WITH IRISH ARTS CENTER 50 YEARS TO THE DAY ON SUNDAY Sunday, January 30, 2022 at 7:00pm EST Origin Theatre Company and the Irish Arts Center are jointly presenting a star-studded commemorative reading of Richard Norton-Taylor’s “Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Enquiry” to … [Read more...] about Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry

Des Bishop Is Seriously Funny

By Adam Farley, Deputy Editor
June / July 2015

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He grew up in Queens, went to high school in Ireland, spent a year in the Gaeltacht, two years in China, and just bought an apartment back in New York. And here is an incomplete list of things he has done stand-up sets or made RTÉ documentaries about: living on minimum wage, alcoholism, his father’s lung cancer, low-income housing, the state of the Irish language, the … [Read more...] about Des Bishop Is Seriously Funny

Hunger: Tragedy, Comedy, Both?

By Matthew Skwiat, Contributing Editor
February / March 2015

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The British broadcaster Channel 4 plans to create a sitcom based on a script by Irish writer Hugh Travers. "Hunger" centers on the Irish Famine and has become a lightening rod of controversy. While the proposed production is still in its infancy and no one has yet to see a finished product, many prominent historians, politicians, and social media talking heads have attacked the … [Read more...] about Hunger: Tragedy, Comedy, Both?

The Laughter and the Drink

By Sheila Langan, Deputy Editor
August / September 2013

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The Irish are known for ‘the craic and the drink.’ Many well-known comedians have given up on one. People of Irish descent face a host of notions and expectations of how they should be – some based in reality, others plucked from the air and given weight over time. Chancers, charmers, affable but discerning, fiery but kind, quick-witted storytellers, and good drinkers. It’s … [Read more...] about The Laughter and the Drink