“Every time I’m in Limerick I always read the Limerick Post”, are the opening words from a very droll Mr. Karl Spain on the other end of the phone line when I talked to him last week. With that ringing endorsement we are off to a great start as Karl talked to your favourite weekly tabloid about his upcoming Choke Comedy appearance and
his MC gig at Killarney’s new comedy festival.
The Limerick comedian has been on the circuit for over ten years now. He won the RTE Award for best new act in 2000, looked for, and found, and is still with the same woman from RTE’s Karl Spain Wants a Woman and went on tour with heavy metal tribute bands for the TV show, Karl Spain wants to Rock 2 and recently toured the UK with Ed Byrne.
Karl admits that his early ambitions were to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band, “if I could play an instrument or sing I wouldn’t have wanted to be anything else.” His love of music and festivals has made him a regular favourite at The Electric Picnic, he performed there last Sunday, “It is something that you would expect to be a bit of a pain because you are on stage in a tent and a rock band is playing 100 feet away but they are actually lovely gigs and the audience are well up for it.” Karl was listening to Miles Davis before we chatted and from a young age he has always been a music fan with eclectic taste, “I could easily have The Smiths, next to Wham, next to Guns and Roses, I was never kind of genre specific, if its good its good”
Also performing at the Electric Picnic this year again were the Rubberbandits and we asked Karl if using Limerick city’s reputation as comedy material was a good way of beating others to the punchline proving that we have the ability to laugh at ourselves first, “There are Limerick comedians like myself, The Rubberbandits and Willie O’Dea and all we are trying to do is make people laugh, you know. It’s not to be taken seriously”, he laughs.
Karl is lined up to MC at the inaugural Comedy Central Killarney weekend this month. Happening over two days from Friday September 16 the festival will feature eighteen top Irish and international comedians including the likes of Ardal O’Hanlon, Dom Irrera, Neil Delamere, PJ Gallagher, Andrew Maxwell and Maeve Higgens. “It is a sign of the times, the way the line-ups are going, you are getting an extra comedian or two per gig”, he comments. Comedy Central Killarney will take place over two stages, The INEC Mainstage from 7.30pm and the Today FM Acoustic Stage from 10pm each night.
Karl also enjoys acting and has recently made a short film. He tells Limerick Post that he is, “still dining out”, on his Killinaskully appearance where he played a master of kung-fu during the fifth series of the popular TV show. He has also recently joined up with Limerick’s improv troup, Choke Comedy, “I’v done the Dublin improv but it was too much effort to be going to Dublin weekly to do it”, he quips.
Karl Spain will perform with The Choke Comedy group at The Loft upstairs from The Locke Bar on Thursday September 29. He will MC on the main stage of Comedy Central Killarney on Friday September 16.
