Hailing from Birr in Co. Offaly, Barry Glendenning's life took an unexpected turn as a result of a rather unusual, not to say horrifying, Hot Press assignment. "Volunteered" by the editor for the task of trying his luck at

stand-up comedy and writing about the inevitable catastrophe that would ensue, Barry took his courage in his hands and his cog notes up his sleeve and, one fateful night in 1996, appeared on stage during the open mic slot at Dublin's famed Comedy Cellar.

As his own account describes, he not only survived the experience but, having recovered from the trauma, felt sufficiently emboldened to give it another bash. And then another. The result has been an on-going, occasional career in stand-up which has seen him perform at venues in Ireland and Britain. A witty columnist for Hot Press from his current base in London, he is also a regular contributor to Irish radio and television - in addition to being our Featured Writer of the Month.

Here's the story of his first fateful night as a Cellar funnyman:

[link]www.hotpress.com/archive/1735876.html[/link]

...And here's Jonathan O'Brien's review of the massacre... sorry, the bloodbath... excuse us, Barry's really very well done performance:

[link]http://www.hotpress.com/archive/1735875.html[/link]

...And, just to make it a hat trick (so to speak), here's one of our favourites of Barry's - an interview with Frank "Father Jack" Kelly ("They wanted me to shout various words," Kelly tells him of the Father Ted audition process, "which have since become rather well known"):

[link]http://www.hotpress.com/archive/392434.html[/link]