Carol Burnett once said that comedy is tragedy plus time. Comedians seem to swear by that statement. Of all the comedians I have spoken to, all have mentioned this infamous line, and Irish funnyman Patrick Kielty is not an exception to the rule. Kielty is no stranger to both tragedy and comedy, and his life experiences as well as his career have made him one of the most interesting comedians of our time.

Born in Northern Ireland in 1971, Kielty grew up during the infamous Troubles. It is during that time that his father was killed by a paramilitary group, and he saw first hand, like so many others, his country in shambles. So some might find it odd that Kieltychose a career in comedy, but for others, it makes perfect sense. During a time when people were being killed left and right, Kielty chose to make people laugh through their grief. When he moved to Belfast in order to attend Queen's University and study psychology, he set up the area's first comedy club, which wasn't far from where tragedy often struck. “The comedy club was very close to where people were shot. Trying to do comedy there was fantastic because they needed comedy, they needed to laugh.”

Kielty went past the tragedy and chose his future. “I made a conscious decision that I would have to work for a living or stand up on stage so girls could talk to me,” he joked over the phone. It's easy to say that he made the right decision, since he has attained unprecedented success and popularity. And like so many others before him and after him, nothing is off-limits for this comedian. Kielty has been the subject of controversy in the past, and will most likely continue to be until he decides not to speak his mind, which will never happen. Despite experiencing heartbreak over the death of his father when he was sixteen, and the faltering of his country, Kielty didn't seem to think it was necessary not to see the funny side of things. “Back then, I was doing jokes about terrorism that were affecting people at that time. Everyone has gone through that process. But in recent years, I have to ask myself, 'well why can't I say those things anymore?' And they tell me that it's wrong.”

Clearly, wrong shouldn't be in a comedian's vocabulary, since their job is to make people laugh through the life experiences of others as well as their own. Current events, no matter how touchy or taboo, will always make their way into the routines of some comedians. “Great comics decide what to say when the time is just wrong. My default setting as to what's funny isn't based on time, it's based on what's funny.” Kielty's brand of humor isn't all controversy, however. This is a man who, like everyone else on this planet, speaks his mind. When asked what main areas of his life he uses for inspiration in his comedy, he simply answered, “As I get older, it's stuff I genuinely believe. What inspires me as I go along, it's saying what I think about things. As time goes on you want to just give your opinion.”

Kielty will bring that strong opinion to Montreal this month for the O'Comics show at the Just for Laughs Festival, and like a perfect gentleman, he called Montreal his favourite city to perform him, even though he's never been there in his life. ”I two-faced kiss-arse!” Despite this being his first trip to the city, he expects good things, and bad, to happen. “People say comedians have made their careers at Just for Laughs, and I say careers have ended at Just for Laughs,” Kielty joked. “When you get to a city that enjoys fun, expect an Irishman to go a little crazy.” So what can we expect from Kielty and his fellow comedians? “What you can expect from me is a distance from the rest of the other comics. They've disowned me completely because they want me to be British. I'm the comedy version of Kosovo. No one wants me.”

Don't worry Patrick. Audiences want you just the way you are.

O'Comics, featuring Ed Byrne, Jimeoin, Dead Cat Bounce and Patrick Kielty, will be held at Kola Note on July 22^nd and 23^rd. For tickets to this as well as other shows, head to www.hahaha.com

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sladovrechis

 

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