HAVING taken a 10 year break from touring outside the country, comedian Jon Kenny, who hails from the village of Hospital, is stripping away the costumes and props, taking a new genre of comedy on the road.
However, despite overhauling his stage act, the veteran comic is a creature of habit when it comes to communicating and has no time for modern gadgets, which, he feels, are dominating peoples lives.
“I’m not into iPhones or any of that”, he tells me when we meet for a chat. “I can’t understand the point of them at all. You see people, even children, with all their ‘apps’ and that’s all they can talk about. It’s like you have to be contactable every hour of the night and day, and are diving for the phone every time it beeps!”.
Jon, who is married to Margie and has two children, Aran and Leah, took a step back from the mayhem that once was his life a number of years ago after falling ill with Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2000. He is only now returning to the world stage, with upcoming gigs in London, New York, San Francisco and San Diego. “Hopefully, people will turn up. I could go over to America and they could be cancelled!”, quips Jon.
“Margie won’t come with me on tour, but Leah wants to, just so she can see pop band Green Day!
“It’s a sign of the times that I’m going abroad again. I got a call from a guy in London saying they’re pushing for more Irish acts. It’s like the 80’s when you’d be walking down the street in New York and you might as well be in Limerick there are so many Irish over there.
“At times of mass emigration you start getting calls looking for Irish acts.
“It’s nice to get back into it and have a different audience. It’s about 10 years since I gigged abroad. I deliberately took a break from it. I get fed up being away from home”.
Speaking about his relationship with the other half of D’Unbelievables, the act that made both household names, Jon says there is no animosity between himself and Pat Shortt, though they have taken different directions.
“We’re still in contact but he’s very busy man. Life goes on and I took a break for four years.
“We had a good run at things and tried a lot of new things that worked at the time. Our act was labelled as ‘Vaudevillian’ in America, and we did have that mix of theatricality and physicality. We used costumes and it was quite informal. We created that format and it was exciting to do things nobody else had done”.
However, Jon has taken a different path with his new solo comedy act; a more ‘believable’ style.
“I’ve completely changed my style. I’ve gone back to the basics of story telling, which is a challenge.
“My new material is pretty personal and intimate. I’ve no props, its just me with a microphone, so there’s nothing to hide behind”. Recently, Jon took part in Limerick Celebrity So You Think You Can Dance in aid of Breast Cancer, and has a new perspective on fundraising after his own health scare.
“It’s about seven years since I went into remission, so I’m fine now, but you do have a new perspective on how vitally important fundraising is once you’ve seen the other side of it.
“These fundraisers offer invaluable support for people who are going through really hard times. I’ve seen people who have had to travel to Dublin and stay in hotels while their loved ones have treatment. It’s tough enough to deal with an illness without the worry of the financial burden.
“There’s a scheme in Ballinasloe where people can donate to help those going through illnesses and support families with stay-overs and that.
“Irish people are great for supporting things, and putting our hands in our pockets even when we don’t have much ourselves. It shows strength of character and I’ve been aware of that since I got sick and saw what it’s like from the inside”.
Next on Jon’s list is getting back into the theatre, which he calls his first love. “I’m reading a few plays at the moment and will be doing one in Limerick this Autumn. I love the theatre but a lot of the work is in Dublin and I don’t want to be leaving home for months at a time so I have to turn down work. I’m a bit of a home bird now I suppose!
“I want to do more plays in Limerick, since the Island (Theatre Company) is gone and the industry is struggling”.
The comic will also be taking to the stage to mark the opening of this year’s Pig N Porter tag rugby festival at Old Crescent rugby grounds on Friday, July 16.
“John Spillane is sharing the bill with me and I’m a fan so it should be a great gig. They’ve never done something on the Friday night so this will be different and hopefully, the weather will hold”.
As we parted company, I noticed passers by nudging each other in recognition of one of Limerick’s best known faces, but modest as ever, Jon refuted my claim.
“No one notices me on the streets anymore, I’m losing my hair and I’m fat! They’re probably saying: ‘Jaysus that couldn’t be Kenny is it? He’s after getting fierce old’!
