My name is Val Troy, and I am a comedy writer. I didn’t always write comedy. Back in the day, I was an accountant (I suppose I still am), and while debits and credits are great, they aren’t much craic.

In 2021, I decided to write fiction, so I joined Writers Ink. It’s an online writing group at www.writing.ie moderated by best-selling crime author Sam Blake (aka Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin) and journalist Maria McHale. That was a game-changer for two reasons. It opened me up to the world of fiction writing, and I met my co-writer and pal Orla Doherty.

I’ve written a novel, and if all goes well, my debut rom-com, The Mix-Up will hit the shelves in the not-too-distant future.

Orla and I have co-written a comedy/drama screenplay, Men Oh! Pause, which was longlisted in the Female Pilot Club’s screenwriting competition in 2022. As soon as our books get moving, we can’t wait to bring our six-episode comedy/drama to life.

But comedy writing is hard work, and you know what they say about all work and no play…

So, Orla and I, as ChatterBoxx, are the Irish producers for Funny Women, the UK comedy community. Since June 2023, we have produced and performed at three first Funny Women Live in Dublin standup comedy and music shows in the main room in Whelans, Wexford St, Dublin. Headline acts include Deirdre O’Kane, Emma Doran, the DirtBirds, Justine Stafford and more. Our next show is already in the pipeline, and there’s much more to come.

Orla and I could chat for Ireland. If chatting were an Olympic sport, we’d undoubtedly claim gold and silver. So with author and broadcaster, Barbara Scully, we have popped up at book festivals this summer (Listowel Writers Week and the Dalkey Book Festival) with our event, The Madonna Effect: Reinvention As You Age, an entertaining and uplifting look at how each of us reinvented ourselves in our early 50s. We’ll also be at Dingle Literary Festival this November.

I’m married to Ciarán, my current husband (as I affectionately call him), and we have three teenagers. I’m originally from Mayo, but we live in Stillorgan, Co Dublin. Books, music, and comedy fill what’s left of my free time, and I go to as many gigs as time permits. I love anything that makes me laugh out loud, and I find a nice gin and tonic very agreeable indeed.

Thank you for checking out my website. Hopefully, you’ll find something to make you laugh here. You can laugh at me or with me; I don’t mind at all.

Val xx