Pat Shortt Interview

Coming to Australia on his first nationwide tour this August, we speak to legendary Irish comedian, Pat Shortt, about making his way Down Under and the famous pub industry in Ireland.

Hi Pat, how are you?
Very good!

Where in Ireland are you at the moment?
I’m in Limerick, this is where I’m based! It’s quite overcast today, it’s typical Limerick and typically Irish! The book, Angela’s Ashes, is based around Limerick and it talks about it raining constantly and that is what Limerick is like! We’re in the basin the Shannon River, the weather comes in from the Atlantic and it just rains constantly. It’s nice, it’s a lovely place to live, but it’s wet!

Well, hopefully you’ll get some sun when you come over to Australia for the Selfie tour!
Yes! I’m very much looking forward to that I can assure you! And I’m looking forward to the audiences as well. It’s the first time I’ve been out to work or visit and I’m very much looking forward to it!

Have you felt the call from the Irish in Australia to do an Australian tour?
I’ve had a huge amount of interest to do a tour in Australia. I know a lot of comedians that have been going out there for years and I was always interested in going out because I know there’s a big Irish audience, so it seemed like a natural thing to do. I was always waiting for the right promoter and that’s when I met up with the guys from Troubadour and it made sense to do it with them. A lot of people have asked me online, and we said last year that we shouldn’t definitely give it a stab.

What can ticket holders expect from Selfie?
I’m not really a stand-up, I’m more character-driven, and there was a show many years ago called One Hell Of A Do that I did that was hugely popular in Ireland, and it was based on an Irish wedding. Selfie started off being about a photographer who covered funerals, and it ended up being about a singing undertaker because my background is music. It worked its way into the Irish funeral, people’s approach to death and how they react to them. The whole show becomes a funeral and the madness that happen at one. It’s good fun and there are characters like Mossey Burke who is the singing undertaker.

As it’s your first visit ever to Australia, how’s your schedule looking? Will you get to make a holiday out of it?
I’m hoping to stay on the week after. The start is a bit hectic and a lot of distance to cover, so I’m hoping to relax for a few days after and get to see a bit of it.

What would you like to do during your days off?
What I’m looking forward to is the wine, actually! I know they make some great wines in Australia and I love drinking wine in my spare time! I actually like fishing, which I do a lot at home, fly fishing for salmon. I’d just like to have a look around and see the place.

If we were to spend a weekend down your way, what would you suggest we get up to?
Well, the thing about Ireland is it’s so small, so I think you’d have to travel down to Cliffs of Moher in Clare in the west of Ireland, you’d have to travel down to Kerry which is absolutely beautiful, and a place that a lot of people don’t really go to is Lough Derg and up to lakes Killaloe which is only five miles from where I live. There are so many small villages and a harbour on this huge lake – you could spend a week sailing around and eating and drinking. And try and catch a hurling game in the summer!

And, In your opinion, what’s the best pub in Ireland?
Pat Shortt’s Bar – my own pub! Down in County Cork – that would probably be the best one! But there’s actually a pub in the village I live in called Guerin’s and two elderly people run it – mad as a brush – and it’s fantastic and daft and I would recommend anyone coming to Limerick to go to Castleconnell and visit Guerin’s Pub. But it’s very hard to tie down one pub, there are pubs all over the world but there’s something about an Irish pub, the atmosphere and music and food. It’s a fantastic thing in Ireland, and yet they’re struggling in the industry. I hope it won’t be completely taken over by large chains, which is happening a little bit.

Pat Shortt Debut Australian Tour Dates

Thursday 13th August – The Hi-Fi, Brisbane
Friday 14th August – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Saturday 15th August – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne
Sunday 16th August – Astor Theatre, Perth

Tickets available from www.troubadour-music.com