Between the Lovely Girls competition – I’m of course referring to the fantastic celebration of femininity that is the Rose of Tralee – and now the upcoming Comedy Central weekend, Kerry is officially where it’s at this autumn. Over the weekend of September 16 and 17, an impressive roll-call of talent will head south for a weekend of comedy in the town’s INEC venue.

Among those set to perform at Comedy Central Killarney are Ardal O’Hanlon, Dom Irrera, Neil Delamere, PJ Gallagher, Andrew Maxwell, Dead Cat Bounce, Maeve Higgins and Aidan Bishop. Not too shabby a line-up if you ask us... There’ll be live performances taking place on the Main Stage and the Today FM Acoustic Stage, and tickets are available to buy now for both. See inec.ie for details.
From one epic venue to another – FeverPitch takes place in Dublin’s Croke Park on the eve of the All-Ireland football final (that’s September 17, my fellow sports-haters). The evening will be MC’d by Hector Ó hEochagháin, and will feature music by Royseven, Bipolar Empire and The Riptide Movement. But what of comedians, I hear you ask? Well, fear not, the event will also see live performances by Neil Delamere, Fred Cooke and Colm O’Regan.

Also in Dublin, Pope Benedict: Bond Villain runs as part of the Absolut Fringe fest. Abie Philbin Bowman’s religious satire points out some very interesting facts about Benny, namely – he has “a creepy voice, a priceless art collection and diplomatic immunity. His real name is ‘Ratzinger’. And he heads a sinister organisation, hell-bent on world domination.” We gotta say, we like the sound of this one!
Finally, Jarlath Regan’s Backroad Comedy Show plays in Dublin’s Civic Theatre on September 10, Cork IT (14) and the Iontas Theatre, Monaghan (17). Karl Spain will take to the Mill Theatre’s stage (10), Dave McSavage and Simon Munnery perform in the Kinsealy Inn (17) and Jason Manford plays Vicar St. (17).