Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Columbus is getting a visit from a comedic quartet bringing a rowdy Irish pub environment to audiences across the pond.
The Irish Comedy Tour
“You walk down the street, you see a place called O’Malley’s, you’re like, ‘I’m going to walk in,’” says Derek Richards, founding member of the Irish Comedy Tour. “That’s going to be a good time.”
The troupe performs at the Lincoln Theatre March 13.
Richards, a Detroit native, began his comedy career in the Midwest but was living in Jupiter, Florida when inspiration struck in 2016. A friend who owned a small theater there asked Richards to put together a few comedy shows, one of which fell right around St. Patrick’s Day.
“It packed out a couple hundred people,” Richards says. “They loved it, and (my friend) said, ‘I think you’ve got something that you can work with here.’”
A new style
Richards was looking for something different from the standard set of three or four stand-up comedians connected by a common theme.
After the initial run in Florida, Richards added musicians to further differentiate the show and strengthen the Irish theme.
The Irish Comedy Tour
“I wanted to fuse together a comedy show and an Irish pub, and make it more of a party than anything else,” Richards says.
In 2012, the tour added Damon Leibert, a comedian from Nova Scotia, Canada, and Derrick Keane, a musician from Inchicore, Ireland. The two already had an easy chemistry, having performed together off and on for years prior.
Though all the performers have connections to Ireland, the show is intended to resonate with audiences from all cultures.
“Everybody is from somewhere else,” Richards says. “We’re all cut from the same cloth. If you come from German roots, Irish, Italian, Polish, you know, parents are the same everywhere.”
Healing through humor
Like Richards, tour comedian Michael Malone incorporates painful memories into his stand-up. Malone speaks candidly about the ways society deals with death and love. His special, “Laugh After Death,” explores his comedy after the deaths of his mother and stepfather.
The Irish Comedy Tour
Richards jokes about his cancer diagnosis, bringing levity to a dark subject.
“Everybody in every crowd has either had it or known somebody who’s gone through it,” Richards says. “I think the best part of being a comedian, at least for me, is being able to connect with an audience. That’s what you laugh at, that’s something that you can relate to.”
Often, he says, audience members approach Richards after the show and share their own cancer journeys, thankful to be able to laugh at something so trying.
Each show contains good-natured explorations of Irish stereotypes as well, Richards says – popular segments for Midwestern and East Coast audiences.
“They named the paddy wagon after the Irish, so there’s something to be said for that,” Richards says.
Irish reunion
In the off-season, the group’s members are scattered across the country. Richards performed in Las Vegas, Keane gigged across the Northeast, Leibert lived in Maine and Malone bounced to Los Angeles for filming. But they made sure to stay connected before the tour started in late February.
“Throughout the year, we always send each other (funny) texts and things like that,” Richards says. “We always keep in touch with one another.”
The tour group is excited to come back to Columbus, particularly for the audience response.
“I love the vibe of a Columbus audience, and Ohio in general for that matter,” Richards says. “Especially in Columbus, because they’re smart, and they get the joke.”
Maggie Fipps is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
