Ryan Tubridy and Joe Duffy stepped out to support their RTE colleague Tommy Tiernan as he kicked off the Paddy Power Comedy Festival this week.
Sports stars Kellie Harrington, Ruby Walsh and Niall Quinn also turned out for the sold out event at Iveagh Gardens as it returned with a bang for the first time since 2019.
Over 90 artists will perform 36 shows in four fully seated venues in the city centre walled gardens over the weekend.
The first acts kicked off at 7.30pm where Tommy Tiernan hit ‘The Bleedin’ Massive Stage’ with support from Chris Kent, Sindhu Vee and MC Fiona Frawley.
‘The Craic Den’ saw Deirdre O’Kane entertain a packed out crowd, with support from Catherine Bohart, Helen Bauer and MC Karl Spain.
‘The Only Joke Inn’ saw Foil, Arms & Hog supported by internet sensation Killian Sundermann and Mary Beth Barone, with MC Duane Doogan.
Over on ‘The Free Gaff’ stage, viral hit Shane Daniel Byrne headlined, with support from Ger Staunton, Justine Stafford and MC Martin Angelo.
The later shows included Jason Byrne on ‘The Bleedin’ Massive Stage’, Tony Cantwell in ‘The Craic Den’, Enya Martin at ‘The Only Joke Inn’ and The Comedy Crunch performed in a packed out ‘The Free Gaff’.
As a new sponsor, Paddy Power wanted to support to some of the talented Comedy Clubs across Dublin and so ‘The Free Gaff’ stage was born.
On each day of the festival, local comedy clubs will be hosted as part of the programme on this stage, and for every ticket sold for The Free Gaff stage featuring a ‘Comedy Club’, Paddy Power will match its price in funding for that comedy club.
This will allow those clubs to finance more gigs, creating more opportunities for aspiring comedians to perform and hone their talent in front of a live audience.
Full details on the line-up, programme information and to buy tickets here.
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