Is this the best designed website in Kilkenny?

Advertising Kilkenny's own Jack Street, so called cos he's gots the word on it. The street that is. The one in Kilkenny. The one right beside Jack Street's laneway where, according to ever-reliable source Hamish Lane, Jack Street was caught kissing ten men. Apparently.

Jack's new, official and highly professional may not be officially a Ken McGuire designed site, but it certainly looks like he may have had an influence. Not on the TV ad below though.

Just look what Twitter member and all round good guy Lee Kelly had to say about Jack's new website:



Are you looking for confidential information? Any information? Cos Jack can get you that. How about legal over-the-counter hallucinogens? He can get you those. Industrial sabotage? Yep, sure!



Visit http://www.jackstreethaspanache.com to find out more - don't forget to have your speakers on - Shaft fans will love it.

You can read Jack's blog and all about his enemies, the nasty bastid Vultures Private Investigators that Byrne is pimping out, cheap sell-out that he is.

Jack Street has panache. Sure what more could anyone in Kilkenny need?

Are you looking for a good detective agency in Kilkenny?

Tony was. He rang me while I was showing Andrea how to use her digital camera.


So there you have it. If, like Tony, you're looking for a great detective agency in Kilkenny, check out Pinkertons.ie.

An international security guard and detective agency with a fine history and unrivalled case list, we're they're now bringing our their reputable and excellent service and expertise to the city and county. One of their opening offers - if they can't find your pet, it's your money back and a free pet.

Whatever you do, don't bother checking out Vultures Private Investigators. Don't watch (or read) their cheap, badly scripted and amateur anti-Pinkertons campaign and don't eagerly await episodes 5 and 6 which are shooting at the moment.

And don't bother asking Ross or Ken if I'm right. They'll only say no.

Pinkertons.ie - they never sleep either.

Fame

It may just be me but I find this incredibly cute. It's the four to six year old juniors from the Starlight Stage School rehearsing Fame for the interval act of the musical we're doing at the moment.

Standing on stage is a daunting thing at any age, and to see the delight of these children as they do their best to remember complicated dance moves, the words of a song, to smile and to enjoy it is just a tonic. When they walked out on stage for their live performance last night, the collective awwww from the audience was better than any applause before. They also got a huge cheer at the end.

It's a pity the video quality is so poor. I'd love you to hear Eilish Fitzgearld, the young singer who does an amazing job of the song. You can get a sense from the clip, I hope, but she's a young girl with a fantastic voice. Truth be told I've been so impressed with the quality of acting and singing on this show, it makes me wish I'd kept at it when young.

Well done to all the juniors and to Jason Paul Ryan and Sharon Molloy for all their hard work. The only way is up!

This Halloween I'm going back to the 80s

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my graduating class from William Ocean High School. And that little dude... well that's me - Corey Palmer."

So begins my first major role on stage since the John Player Tops of the Town 1985 is the local village hall.

Yes indeedy, yours truly is joining the cast of Back to the 80s, a musical production happening in Kilkenny's Watergate Theatre on October 29, 30 and 31.



Darragh Doyle Corey Palmer is a thirty something American looking back at his time in High School during the 80s, a time

... when Michael Jackson and Rick Astley were the Kings of Pop, when bubble skirts and blue eye shadow were cool and when the Atari was cutting edge technology ...

Sounds like fun, eh? My role as narrator is quite simple, telling the story of how "the 17 year old Corey is madly in love with his next-door neighbour, Tiffany Houston, one of the coolest girls in the school. However, she barely notices this, as she is too busy mooning over Michael Feldman, the hottest guy around."

Throw in some energetic 1980s classics including Kids in America, Girls just want to have fun, Footloose, Mickey, Video killed the Radio Star, Man in the Mirror, Material Girl and 500 Miles, the talent of local children from the Starlight Stage School and me having to sing - yes, Darren, sing - a couple of verses from the Glory of Love, Total Eclipse of the Heart and You Give Love a Bad Name and you'll get some idea of what will be going on.

Those who know me know I'm rarely one to pass an opportunity to try something new go by. I can't act, I can't sing and my American accent leaves a lot to be desired, but it will be fun, I'll enjoy giving it a go and it's something I've wanted to try for a while. Even better, all profits are going to the charity Self Help Africa, so it's for a good cause too.

If you happen to be in the area on those dates, please don't drop in. It'll be difficult enough with me mammy in the audience wondering why I'm wearing make-up, without having bloggers throwing the rotten tomatoes that Niamh, budding entrepreneur that she is, has offered to stock up on to make some money.

Of course if your ideal night out is seeing people having fun, a Star Wars dream sequence, high-energy dance routines, the obligatory 80's party scene, copious amounts of blue eye-shadow, twenty cans of hairspray, as well as some of the most popular songs ever written and finding out if Corey ever gets the girl of his dreams or if one character's crazy idea that CDs will one day replace tapes will come true, then tickets are €12 and available on the door. You'll find more information on the show itself here.

Right now, I better go learn some lines.

Shot through the heart, and you're to blame
Darling you give love a bad name...

Here's a scene from one of the productions:



And to think, I could be dressing up in fishnets and seeing Rocky Horror in the Sugar Club instead... Ken McGuire has a lot to answer for!

Take a tour of Dublin or Kilkenny and help Barretstown

This is one of my favourite letters ever:



It came from Christopher, a Barretstown camper who wrote to say:

"Hi all, my name is Christopher. I was in Barretstown a couple of times. I had a great time. No nurses - No doctors chasing me. Not to do this or that. Just fun, fun, fun, The place is abolutely brilliant.

Just to let you know I had a kidney transplant a year ago and I'm doing well. As a special THANK YOU I would like to donate the money I have saved to help other kids the way you helped me.

A grateful camper,
Christopher"

There are many, many other letters like that coming from grateful children and parents whose lives have been touched by Barretstown. Now you can help out and have a bit of fun.



Ever wanted to take a bus tour around Dublin or Kilkenny?

This Thursday 10 July you can play tourist and see all the city sights in comfort, knowing that your ticket money goes to helping bring kids with serious illness to Barretstown.

CitySightSeeing Tours are kindly donating all ticket money for the Dublin and Kilkenny City tours for that day to Barretstown.

Tickets are valid for 24 hours and you can hop on and off as often as you like. Each bus has a mix of audio or live commentary from local guides. There's also a kid's commentary which is both educational and fun!

Remember the date is July 10th. All proceeds from that day's City Sight Seeing Tours in our capital city Dublin and Kilkenny, Ireland's medieval capital, will go to help bring more kids with serious illness to Barretstown.

I know some children who'd be very happy for the donation you can give :)



Check out how you can help Barretstown with your time or money. :) Please also tell your family, friends or random tourists on the street about this - every little helps.

Maybe I'll see you on the bus ;-)

Having a laugh with PJ Gallagher

PJ Gallagher considers himself a lucky man. Well, in fact what he said to me was "If you're making a living from this remember you're a lucky f**ker."

But we'll come back to that.


Photo taken from here

Probably best known for creating Jake Stevens - a whistler, a slightly dimwitted but enthusiastic and up-for-anything Irish character who recently went to seek fame and fortune in America and for his work on RTE's Naked Camera (running since 2005).

With his impending appearances at this weekend's Smithwick's Cat Laughs Festival (he's doing 6 shows) and fresh from Vicar Street earlier in the month, he's getting praise and new followers all the time.

I sat down with him recently (after I accosted him in a hallway) to talk about comedy. He was open, energetic, warm and friendly - a real pleasure to chat to.



On starting out:

"It's Jason Byrne's fault. I used to work with him in a warehouse and we'd always be slagging and messing. Jason started to get some gigs and saying I should too.

Then one day I'm on Dublin Bus and see his name on an gig poster - and mine after it. I rang him and he said - you've got 6 weeks to prepare 10 minutes, nothing you can do now. So I did it."

He's great friends with with Jason, often appearing with him - they're both managed by Lisa Richards Comedy (their blog is here, hiya John!) and is also a graduate of the Gaiety School of Acting.

On being recognised

"If I got a euro from RTÉ for every time someone whistled at me I'd be very rich indeed. Ah it's always nice to get the people coming up, saying hello, just having the craic. Luckily enough I haven't had any mad experiences."

On the internet

"Ah I'm mad into MySpace. Love it. (PJ's MySpace is here) Just love taking to people. I don't get onto it that much but it's a great way of getting feedback and seeing what's going on.

However someone has a profile for Jake on Bebo - it's not me but it's very good - so good that some of me own mates message me on it and are then surprised I don't get back to them. He's a genuine fake, doing a great job.

It's a pity though when you see stuff you're only working out up on YouTube. Some of the shows aren't as good as they could be. I don't mind the Naked Camera stuff but I'd hate to think that based on some mobile phone video that the show wasn't going to be good."

On doing gigs

"Ah it's a great laugh. It all depends on how well organised the gig is and the mood of the people but you can have great fun with the audience. You never do the same gig twice - the show evolves with the people and how different it can go. It takes preparation but the fun is worth it."

On Kilkenny

"The Cat Laughs is great. For me it's the festival. Always so much on, such great comedians and a great atmosphere. A real place where you can try stuff, you can have fun and get to meet other great comedians. Deadly fun altogether."

On Americans

"They're so polite. You could walk up to an Irish person and say "I lost my monkey" and they'd be like "Jesus, that's terrible! The poor monkey! Where did you leave it and what was it wearing when you saw it?" whereas the Americans would be completely dead-pan "I'm very sorry to hear that sir". A huge difference. I really enjoyed the time over there though."

On advising people thinking of starting in comedy:

"Most importantly don't fill yourself full of shit. It's a tough job and you've got to be polite with the people you're working with, with the fans and to remember to thank everyone.

Remember that if you do succeed to make a living you're a lucky fucker - many have tried. Keep positive though and believing in yourself without being cocky and you should be fine. Most of all enjoy it."

PJ mentions his support of the ISPCC's Childline. He heads off to do a great gig for Vodafone Bright New Sounds and then after borrowing sellotape to fix a light on his Honda Fireblade (true story) heads off, stopping to take time and pictures with his fans and supporters.

A genuinely nice guy, and a great person to have a laugh with. I'm looking forward to seeing him at the weekend.



PJ's page on the Lisa Richards Comedy Night has his upcoming gigs. Check it out.