Cork Comedy Festival

Willlow

Anyone go to this event? Seemed liked it was organised by clowns :mad:

SteelyDanJalapeno

Well it is a comedy fest...........

gimmick

Was not at anything, but heard it was horrendously badly organised. Nothing started on time it seems among other issues.

Blitzkrieger

I only heard about it two days afterwards when I saw a flyer in the bin. Not the most effective advertising....

sparrowcar

98FM DJ's just slated the organisers on air.

It appears advertising it was non existant.

H8GHOTI

I heard about it alright but didn't go to anything. Came across the website a few weeks ago, saw a poster in town & got a flyer in the post.
But there was nothing of interest for me really. Just the same run of the mill comedians that are at the Cat Laughs in Kilkenny every year.

Willlow

OMG! You can't compare last weekends mess to Kilkenny! Kilkenny's been going solidly for years. Haven't been in a few years now but it was brilliant every time.

€30 to see Tommy's cousin and Des Bishop's brother!!! Even the food was rubbish.

Faith

I only heard about it on Friday. Awful promotion altogether.

H8GHOTI

Willlow wrote: »

OMG! You can't compare last weekends mess to Kilkenny! Kilkenny's been going solidly for years. Haven't been in a few years now but it was brilliant every time.

€30 to see Tommy's cousin and Des Bishop's brother!!! Even the food was rubbish.

I wasn't comparing them in the way they were organised. I've been to the Cat Laughs 3 or 4 times myself and always enjoyed it.
It is a good weekend but it's mostly the same people every year.
Most of the names at this one have done Kilkenny over the years. The two you mentioned plus Colin Murphy, Dermot Whelan, Karl Spain, Maeve Higgins, Paddy Courtney etc.............

Azphyxi8

It was a joke of a festival. I paid for tickets for 2 of the shows yesterday, the father ted show and 4 poofs and a piano. €30 per show.

Got to the box office to collect the tickets and was informed that 4 poofs was cancelled but that we'd be let into all the shows anyway. We're waiting on a refund for those tickets.

Anyway we got in and it was like a ghost town. The father ted show was supposed to start at 3:30 but we didn't know which tent. There were 2 open at the time so I asked a staff member and was told that all acts would be in one tent. It turned out that because of the small turn out they compacted all the comedians performances into one long show. Nothing was announced. Nobody knew if they were in the right tent or not.

To make matters worse then I found out that they were selling all day tickets outside the show for €10 on the Saturday. That's not exactly fair on the people that paid €30 per show.

I definitely won't be going if it's on again next year.

Miss_Ellie

I was there yesterday....it was a bit of a disaster.
We paid €30 to see Meave Higgins @ 5pm....she came on stage at 7pm. There was only one tent and that wasn't full.
The line-up was good.
But the tickets were totally and utterly overpriced. And advertising seems to have been totally nonexistant.
A total shame really - cause Cork could benefit with a good comedy festival to grow and develop into an annual event.

I doubt if this event will be back next year - the organisers must have lost a fortune. Total shame really.

gbee

Comedy is dead in Cork. And has been for many years. No Comedy Club brings a crowd on either a regular basis or anything approaching starting time, with a few exceptions, comedy shows are attended by a few, the same few.

I was personally very sceptical of a comedy festival in Fitzie's ~ did the promoter know something that the long suffering Comedy Clubs in the City already for the last twenty years, not know?

Seemingly not. Thanks for the reports gentlemen.

CircleGuy

Was going to David Doherty on Sunday. Went through all the stages to get tickets, bought em in xtra vision (didn't ask for ID). Collected tickets 2 hours before show, went next door to the cricket club for a few drinks (great bar). Came back with an hour to spare, only when I got to the gate did the guy said I needed an ID to get it. (the fact it was over 18s at all wasn't publicised at all). Mate of mine (it was for his 18th) had his ID, still wouldn't let us in. Said because they were serving alcohol and because it was on until 10 we needed ID. What is it, past our bedtimes? And when I've gone to these things in the Marquee I've always been asked at the bar. Waiting from call from promoter, anybody know who that is? Ticketgroup?

EDIT: I am 18 btw. Anybody know how Doherty was? Hopefully he was horrible >:D

Fromthetrees

I went on the Saturday to see Sen Lock, cost 30euro, pretty reasonable but when we got there we were pointed to the wrong tent, went in there and saw Colin Murphy, apres match fela, Brendan from the republic of telly and then went to the other tent to see Sen Lock and a few felas from the panel and a fela from whose line is it anyway, I'm really bad with names of people just remember faces, we went back on the Sundy and paid 15 euro for a show, got to see Maeve Higgins, another fela from the panel, apres match fela again, fela from the late late show band, a few others I didn't recognise and David O Doherty and after that there was another show but everyone bar about 10 headed home??, all that for 45 euros, couldn't believe it,:eek: they'll never have it on again though as it ws so poorly attended, real pity,:( Cork could have done with this kind of festival every summer, best weekend in flipping ages.:D

Fromthetrees

Anybody know how Doherty was? Hopefully he was horrible >:D[/QUOTE]

I had a head ache from laughing so much, he was brilliant, I've seen all his stuff on youtube and he only did all brand new stuff, he was on for nearly an hour and he said twice that the gig was going well sorry to say, 5 stars......:D

CircleGuy

Fromthetrees wrote: »

I had a head ache from laughing so much, he was brilliant, I've seen all his stuff on youtube and he only did all brand new stuff, he was on for nearly an hour and he said twice that the gig was going well sorry to say, 5 stars......:D

When did he go on? Also any idea on who promoted it? Was supposed to get a call from them today, didn't

Max001

Pity about this. Sounds like amateur hour by the tumble tots. Took one look at the line up and prices and gave it a miss. Seen most of em at the Comedy Club or in Edinburgh. I came to Cork to live partly cause there was a comedy club, but gave up on the place a couple of years ago.

Compare with The Fringe in August. Most Edinburgh shows are a tenner and generally last an hour. Only A list comedians would be more expensive. It can be hit and miss, but at least all the world's comedians are in one place. Plus, there's the Free Fringe - lots of great shows. If the people that tried this car crash were trying to follow the Edinburgh model of multiple one hour shows, they forgot to price accordingly and market it, market it, market it. Kilkenny can do it, Cork can't. Odd.

Better to buy a cheap flight outta Shannon to Edinburgh. Rent a room in a house for a week/end and comedy yourself to death......and.....not have to suffer Rip-Off-Ireland. Fringe starts in just over ten days.....there's still time

Fromthetrees

I paid 45 euro for 2 days of comedy to see some of the best Irish comedians around, that's good value to me, I spent more on drink in the ofi before we went both days, I don't think it's fair to compare one of the best comedy events in the world and is so well established with it, if they had gotten the crowds it would be back bigger and better next year, pity it won't because no one went.

Max001

I wasn't so much making a direct comparison, as making the point that it ain't re-inventing the wheel. There's a right way to do these things to prevent a ball's up. All you gotta do is ask. It'd probably make more sense to base in a decent sized venue in town, with multiple performance spaces, which'd be easier to control using the venue's staff. Or, use pubs and everyone's a winner But, I know zip....just a guess.
My other point was, if you can bear Ryanair, Edinburgh's only a short hop and if stand-up flicks your switch, there's no better place to be

gbee

Max001 wrote: »

I wasn't so much making a direct comparison,

To rephrase what I mentioned earlier ~ all you've said has been tried in Cork and ultimately not enough people turn up. What happened in Fitzie's Park seems to be par for the course for Cork for Comedy.

Max001

Fair enough. I'll defer to your greater knowledge of the Cork scene.
However, I would've thought that to cope with living in Cork, lots of people would either need (a) regular A grade comedy, or (b) regular A grade medication. I tried drugs through the naughties and from the little I can remember and the facebook evidence, that wasn't such a good idea, so I mainly 'do' stand up these days