Comedian Al Porter has described the “energy in the room” at his first theatre gig last week as “incredible” as fans praise him for making a return to the stage.
More than five years after he left the spotlight after unproven allegations derailed his career, the Dubliner returned to the main stage of The Civic Theatre in Tallaght last Thursday night.
The comic revealed at the time that there was a waiting list of hundreds of people to see him.
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Speaking after his gig, Porter wrote on social media: “Thank you to everyone that came to the show.
“The energy in the room was incredible! This was the first and only theatre gig of my work in progress tour, with the added excitement and pressure of being a kind of homecoming gig.
“I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.”
He added his thanks to his support act, Tallaght native Joe Dowlin, and the theatre staff for “looking after everyone.”
Al performed his first charity gig in over five years when he performed in November last year to raise money for HOPE – Suicide Prevention Drop In Centre Tallaght.
He unexpectedly joined a number of entertainers including Mary Byrne who took to the stage on the night and helped raise some €3,000 for the local charity.
He has since been performing across Ireland in smaller venues.
Porter indicated his intention to move into a new chapter of his life after breaking his silence last July in a lengthy social media post.
He said he would “like to make people laugh again” and resurrect his career.
He quit his high-profile radio slot with Today FM in November 2017 amid a furore over unproven allegations made on social media and has declined to publicly comment ever since.
Writing about that difficult time in his life, the stand-up comedian said that he is a “long-time sober” and living a quiet existence in his parents’ house in Tallaght.
He said that about five years ago he “kind of disappeared” and his life changed beyond all recognition.
Porter said after a series of tweets making allegations against him were made in 2017, he took the issues in his personal life very seriously and decided to walk away from all his work commitments.
“From the age of 19 my life had been a runaway train, I had been burning the candle at both ends, leaving me overwhelmed and unable to cope,” he said.
“At the time all I wanted to do was go home to my family, but I couldn’t even do that as the media were outside my mam and dad’s house. In the space of 48 hours, it felt like I’d lost everything.”
As for his future plans, he said on his website that he is now “fit and healthy and a long-time sober” and indicated he would like to return to his comedy career.
“Now, I’d like to make people laugh again. Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Mine starts now,” he said.
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