John, Im Only Laughing

"There's two ladies here who have just interrupted Dara O'Briain in the shower," quips John Henderson, providing a running commentary of the goings-on in his flat in Edinburgh, where he and about 1,375 Irish comedians are holing up for the duration of their excellent Festival adventure. One always imagines the lifestyles of the not-quite-rich-yet and relatively famous to be like this sharing sponges with sassy sirens and the like but to actually hear this as a fact makes one green with envy.
However, my fever fades when I hear that they're here solely because there's water from his shower leaking down into their flat, which is situated directly underneath. What is he getting up to in there? It's the fag-end of the Edinburgh jaunt and Ireland's premier mirth-inducers will move on to the next course of the moveable feast that is the comedy circuit and leave those faulty showers behind (faulty showers? Now there's an idea for a sitcom!).
Next up is Killarney. Henderson is among the performers at this year's Murphy's Ungagged Comedy Festival, which takes place this weekend (Thursday 2nd-Sun 5th September) in the bewitchingly beautiful Kerry town. It's a strong bill this year, with Ardal O'Hanlon confirmed for the Muckross Suite at the Great Southern Hotel, as well as Phil Kay (the critically lauded King Of Improv), New Zealand's Ewen Gilmore, and fellow Antipodean, Greg Fleet. Aside from Henderson and O'Hanlon, the other Emerald Isle comedians set to appear include Mark Doherty, Ian Coppinger, Gerry Mallon, Barry Murphy and our own Barry Glendenning.
If the Kilkenny Cat Laughs festival constitutes the highlight of the Irish comedy calendar, then Killarney is in the running for the runners-up spot, along with Kinsale and Cork City's Red Hot Festival. The Killarney National Park, with its Edenic landscape and peaceful lakes, is the perfect place to chill out for a few hours.
"I'm just so chuffed that there are so many festivals taking place these days," gushes Henderson. "Plenty of work for me! It means I don't have to go to London anymore. I used to go there quite regularly but I don't really have to do that now. I pop over to Newcastle every now and then there's a club called the Hyena there which is excellent. We had a great time at the Kinsale Festival recently: eat a bit of fish, do a bit of comedy and have a few drinks! That's the way I like it. And Killarney should prove to be an excellent weekend too."
Henderson is ceertainly a veteran of the Irish comedy scene. If you have set foot inside the door of the International Comedy Cellar over the past ten years, you will know that the white-haired Dubliner is a dab hand at droll, gag-centred comedy. Comedy's gain, however, was jewellery's loss: Henderson spent six diligent years in the gem profession, during which he left no precious stone unturned. But he decided to quit to do stand-up after his best friend from school, Eddie Bannon, became a regular on the Dublin scene. It was through meeting other comics like Barry Murphy and Ian Coppinger at Bannon's gigs that he was persuaded to give it a try himself.
Henderson is also a much in-demand MC, having compired Jason Byrne's recent Irish tour. But he is more at home, he says, doing his own sets than warming audiences up for the next act.
"Chatting to the audience is fine and that's essentially what you're doing when you're compering," says Henderson. "But I prefer my own stuff; to have 20 or 30 minutes doing my own material. I think you have to be more honest with your audience when you're MC-ing: I'm playing myself when I compere gigs whereas when I'm doing my set, you can deliver stuff a bit differently, and hide behind characterisation.
Some gags are better during a set, and wouldn't really work within the context of MC. And if you do it properly, it's a thankless kind of job, because you're there to make the other person look good. As soon as it's going well for you and you're gathering momentum, you have to hand over to the main act."
It seems there's not a week goes by without articles written about how comedians in particular Irish comedians have lost their cutting edge. But Henderson feels that the rumours of stand-up comedy's death have been greatly exaggerated.
"Since they started saying that stand-up is the new rock'n'roll, they've been saying that stand-up is dead," he says. "That's going to go on all the time. But they're going to moan no matter what: there was an article which said that no-one stands in front of a microphone anymore it's all just slide shows and gimmicks. And of course, when people just stand in front of a microphone, they say: why don't they move on and do something different? So it's a no-win situation."
Henderson has had a much more sober Edinburgh Festival this time compared to previous years. And, by all accounts, the international jet-set comedy crew can't party like they used to either. "None of the comics seem to be around for long nights on the piss, except for us ten Irish people," says Henderson. "The year before was just lunacy thirty nights of debauchery and madness. That got a bit much, though, and so I took it easy this year. Besides, I'm going to be a father soon."
He also admits that he didn't go to any shows he himself wasn't performing at in Edinburgh, because he's usually comedied-out after his own gigs. But there is another reason. And, with pleasing symmetry, it involves that Dara O'Briain fella again.
"Dara O'Briain brought his Playstation over with him (so that's what they call it nowadays Ed), and there's this new game called Driver which I've become addicted to. It's a struggle to get out of the flat most days."
At this stage, I ask for a progress report on the imagined orgy taking place in Henderson's flat as we speak.
"Er, he dropped his towel and the girls ran off." n
The Murphy's Ungagged Comedy Festival featuring Ardal O'Hanlon, Phil Kay, John Henderson et al takes place in Killarney, Co. Kerry, from Thurs, 2nd-Sun 5th September.