To paraphrase Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons, oh, what a night, early November 2023 was a very special night for me, let me remember, WHAT a night.
A week has now passed since Orla Doherty and I, as ChatterBoxx hosted Funny Women Live in Dublin show in Whelans, Wexford St. Honestly, a week later we are still basking in the glow of a sold-out main room packed with an audience enjoying a top-notch showcase of funny women doing their thing.
But first a word about the audience. Hopefully, they were the real winners on the night because they were outstanding. From the get go everyone was onboard for comedy, music and shenanigans that now typify a Funny Women show hosted by ChatterBoxx.
After the introductions, singer/songwriter Kirana Diamantino set the tone with J Lo’s Let’s Get Loud, as good a way as any to kick off the show. I did my standup set pointing out the highs and lows of turning 50 and had the pleasure to introduce DirtBird Sinead Culbert who filled us in on the dynamics of living with a Dutch Husband.
In advance of the show, we promised that if you wet yourself laughing, we had got you covered. And we did. Orla and I are thrilled to bits that period and bladder leak specialists Nickeze supported the show and gifted a few fabulous spot prizes for lucky audience members. A massive thank you to Ellie Loftus, founder of www.Nickeze.com for your support.
Glamorous Sophia Cadogan gave us a witty insight into her life. I’m calling it now: Sophia is one to watch and we can’t wait to watch her star ascend.
Orla introduced standup comedy debutant Amanda Brunker who confessed to having lost the run of herself giving standup a go but of course, she was outstanding. She went on to tell us she’s exhausted being exhausted and needs a minimum of three glasses of Rose to get excited about anything. I feel seen.
Orla kicked off the second half of the show by hilariously re-living her wild youth in the US. While Orla caught her breath I introduced the founder of Funny Women, Lynne Parker who flew in from London for the show. Lynne reminded us of the origin of www.funnywomen.com and to mark its 20th anniversary we made a presentation to her to acknowledge her contribution to the comedy industry.
From there Orla introduced beauty influencer Maria McKenzie, better known by her online handle @_nospringchicken. Maria may not be a comedian but she is certainly a very funny woman. Maria moderated a cheeky panel discussion with Lynne, Orla and I where we each confessed to our most embarrassing moments.
While we gathered up the remnants of our dignity, I introduced one of Ireland’s best comedy content creators, comedian Justine Stafford who easily dispensed her witty wisdom to the increasingly giddy crowd.
But we had one last treat in store. I had the absolute pleasure of introducing the Queen of Comedy, Deirdre O’Kane as our headline act. I think Deirdre could have stayed on stage all night and I wish it was in our gift to let her do so because, as always, her set was outstanding and we are so grateful to have Deirdre as part of our show.
And we finished as we started. Kirana Diamantino had everyone on their feet singing and dancing to her incredible version ofGloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.
It was a night I’ll never forget. I’m so grateful to Orla, to Funny Women for the opportunity to produce these shows and to the staff at Whelans. Thanks also to everyone who supported us on this crazy journey of ours and a massive thank you to everyone who came along on the night to support Funny Women. We hope to see you all again soon.
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