The Northern Irish comedy scene is on fire and showing no signs of slowing anytime soon. And whether it be on podcasts, comedy clubs or sketches - Ciarán Bartlett is hard to avoid.
The Belfast comedian is currently one of the biggest names in the local industry, swapping sold-out gigs at Limelight for the biggest stage in the country next year.
Having first dipped his toe into the world of stand-up in 2009, Ciarán told Belfast Live about his rise to the top of the game after the announcement of his "Belfast Giant" show at the SSE Arena in 2023.
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Being a musician, the funnyman was well used to the stage before he decided he'd like to try his hand on the comedy circuit after regularly attending comedy clubs in the university area of the city over 13 years ago.
Ciaran said: "I said to a few people about wanting to give stand-up a lash and a couple of people encouraged it, a couple were like 'well you're not really that funny' and I was like 'cheers'.
"Around Christmas time, I went down to the Empire to ask if I could do a gig and Colin Murphy told me that I needed to get other gigs first and work up to making it here."
Taking that advice, he began regularly gigging in hotspots such as McHugh's and The Pavillion and that became his first step into the world of comedy.
Then in late 2013 while completing his first PhD in Journalism, Ciarán decided to take a break and put comedy on the back seat and focus on his music.
"I definitely have a real problem with FOMO - when I'm doing one thing, I'm always looking at something else and thinking I should be doing that.
"I decided to start doing comedy again just for the craic and not really worry about whether it was going anywhere and with that attitude, things started going really great," he explained.
After another short break while he was writing full-time, Ciarán got back up to the mic just before the pandemic took effect in Northern Ireland and despite the world feeling like it was at a standstill, his mark on the local comedy scene continued to go full steam ahead.
He continued: "Every three or four years I've been doing it, I've ended up taking one of these wee times off but I don't see that happening in the foreseeable because I am really enjoying it at the minute - I've had a change of attitude towards it.
"A few years ago, I was just chatting to Colin Geddis and he said that we are basically facilitating people having a night out and I hadn't thought about it like that in a long time. I had gotten into that pitfall you can have as a performer where you think it's about me but it is the people coming and having a good time."
Ciarán became a regular contributor to fellow comedian Shane Todd's podcast Tea With Me and quickly became a fan-favourite guest, which lead to the creation of his own show the No Blaster's Podcast where he invites guests to play (and ultimately lose) against him on Fifa.
With the encouragement of fans, friends and fellow comedians, he decided to hold his first big solo show in the Limelight - which ended up as three sold-out gigs.
"It was literally mad because I had never done that - up until I did those, the only ever solo show I did before that was like 90 tickets at the Accidental Theatre and I had a nightmare selling it," Ciarán said.
"I have experienced all sides of this so people buying the tickets way mad. From there, it's just been a progression where you want your next show to be bigger."
He decided to take the risk and take his humour to NI's biggest stage for the biggest gig of his career so far and in just a week of being on sale, has already sold a third of his tickets.
Ciarán added: "I am super chuffed with the name (Belfast Giant) because I really wanted to call it Belfast Giant but I needed to get permission and make sure everyone know that it's not about ice hockey or taking the piss out of it because I'm a big fan.
"I follow the NHL and I love the Giants and we try and go see them so it wasn't about taking the piss out of it but that its a funny name - it's about me and I'm a big guy.
"We've got really cool artwork too that I'm very chuffed with."
Between podcasting, touring, playing music and completing his second PhD, Ciarán has also recently written an episode for the reboot of Jack Whitehall's Bad Education which is expected on our screens in the New Year.
As the NI comedy industry continues to climb from strength to strength, he said it is "extremely pleasing" to see the local talent being so thoroughly enjoyed across the country and further afield.
He said: "It is great craic to be part of it and I just hope it never stops. I did Lavery's Comedy Club last night and it was sold out, I am doing it tonight - it's also sold out.
"It's like this every week or you go to the Empire and it sells out too. It's class because you want people to come and see it and enjoy it but there is a real appreciation for it at the minute and I've never really seen anything like it.
"Podcasts help it a lot because people feel like they are a part of it and they get to know you a bit and they are sort of rooting for you. It's very gratifying at times and can be really really special."
His first piece of advice for anyone who is thinking of trying their hand at stand-up is that the material comes first - forget what you look like or where you should put your hands and focus on nailing the jokes before anything else.
"Definitely definitely give it a go. You'll never know until you've tried it and it's easy to get stagnated by self-doubt but just give it a lash. I'll always tell people, don't book one gig when you are starting off, book two," he said.
"You'll do the first one and if it's good then great, you'll have momentum for the second one and if it's rubbish, you'll push yourself to do better at the next one. Just get into the water and swim."
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