He s had television shows dedicated to the tactile sensation of water; he s done gigs which were certified laugh-free zones; and he s even had full-blown brawls break out on stage. I last saw him in Killarney in 99 lying under a Murphy s billboard, pretending it was the wings of a fly and probably wishing the ground would swallow him up. At times, I confess, I wished it would too.

But that s the Phil Kay experience. You never know which way it s going to go. And neither does he. And he wouldn t have it any other way. It certainly keeps all involved on their toes. Now Dublin has a chance to experience Phil Kay for itself when he performs a one-off show in HQ on Monday 26th June. What, pray tell, does Phil remember about that night in Killarney?
That was one of those gigs, states the bearded Glaswegian. I remember all the sponsors were there that night. And I was really worried that, because of my show the festival would have problems getting sponsorship for the next year. I had a real spiteful edge that night because I didn t really like the layout of the room or the dicor of the venue. Style really affects my soul.
I did another one recently and the promoters thought that it was absolutely one of the worst things they d ever seen. Which is cool. I don t really mind I always enjoy watching people s faces screw up and writhe. When it goes wobbly, at least it s fascinating to watch.
I got a heckle some guy shouted up you re dying . But I answered, I m not actually trying to make you laugh anymore which I wasn t. So I got him on a technicality. But what happened was, I ended up meeting a table of people and getting really friendly with them and spending the rest of the evening later on by a castle and a loch.
While most comedians would get the shakes and work themselves into a lather trying to fine-tune their act after such a calamitous evening, Kay is more concerned with connecting with the audience members as people, rather than as consumers who must be made to grunt and guffaw at every turn. I call him a hippie and he does not deny it. It s almost as if he feels it is disingenuous, even dishonest, to have learned off jokes by rote.
It s really nice to let reality creep in. The reason I don t have a script is because I have a basic optimism that after being in a room with people, some things will happen. And if you let me go it s not really a conversation but if you let the person who s been gathering things they want to say over the years and the audiences are happy to sit and listen, then it will be totally amazing.
Not that I don t sometimes do scripted stuff. I do say things I ve said before. It s just that I wait for it to be totally relevant to the moment before I repeat it.
Kay gave up conventional gag-regurgitation long ago. In a sense, he's a kindred spirit of free-form play-actor, Jason Byrne, with whom he is often compared.
I can t bear the context of a comedian coming on and saying, right , I will make you laugh NOW! I prefer to loiter around the crowd and do silly things before I go on. Often I just start when I feel like it.
But what of the days when he doesn t feel like it; when for whatever reason, he s in a bad mood?
I ve been through times, says Kay, when I was really down and going on stage was the best thing to happen in the day because you can t really go on stage and start moaning. It s a bit like the hit of a drug it can take you to a new place.
Phil Kay plays HQ on Monday 26th June.