After a handful of guest appearances on Never Mind the Buzzcocks David returned to the show as guest host in November 2010. His other recent television appearances include 8 Out of 10 Cats, Have I Got News For You and Dave’s One Night Stand.

Both books, entitled 100 Facts About Pandas and the follow up 100 Facts About Sharks are available to buy now. In 2009 David released a live CD entitled Let’s David O’Doherty.

David has cemented his reputation as one of the most consistently funny performers at the Fringe with a string of sellout shows. In August 2011 he brought two shows, David O’Doherty is Looking Up and a character piece, David O’Doherty Presents: Rory Sheridan’s Tales of The Antarctica.

David first stepped on stage at Dublin’s Comedy Cellar in 1998. In 1999 he won the Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny award for new comedians and was runner-up in the BBC New Comedy Awards.

His first full show The Story of the Boy Who Saved Comedy was performed at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000 and received a nomination for Perrier Best Newcomer. He has returned to the festival several times, his 2006 show David O’Doherty is My Name garnering a nomination for best show. In 2006 he recorded his first CD Giggle Me Timbers (or Jokes Ahoy!) at home in his flat in front of 35 people. His first television series The Modest Adventures of David O’Doherty was transmitted on RTE in Ireland in 2007.

David has written widely for newspapers and magazines, published a book for children (Ronan Long Gets it Wrong), written a play (Saddled) with Bryan Quinn – the world’s first theatrical production to feature live repair of audience members’ bicycles, and a radio series about bee detectives with his brother Mark (The Bees of Manulla).

David has performed around the world at festivals in Melbourne, Montreal, New York, Prague, Adelaide, Iceland and Wellington.

Quotes:

“When a stand up gig goes this well, you do get a sense of how religions are started” – The Guardian

“This country’s best unassuming comedian…O’Doherty managed to reaffirm a belief in live comedy” – Irish Times

“He’s funny, wretched and clever enough to spawn an army of imitators.” - The Age, Melbourne

“His gags are tidy, carefully crafted affairs. His observations are spot on yet inventive” – The List

“Has the air of being amiable, carefree and shambolic, which disguises some subtly clever writing. Quietly marvellous songs…Delightful, expertly told anecdotes, rich in descriptive prose” – Chortle

“Entertainingly bonkers ditties…As his legions of loyal fans will attest, this thirtysomething Dubliner remains one of the most enjoyably off-the-wall acts on the Fringe” – Metro

“Smart, well-judged stuff…Sweet, simplistic, faux-naif stuff that defies you not to giggle” – The Scotsman

Awards:

Winner: if. comedy Award 2008
Nominee: Barry Award, Melbourne Comedy Festival 2007
Nominee: If.Comedy Award 2006
Nominee: Perrier Best Newcomer 2000
Winner: So You Think You’re Funny 1999
Runner-Up: BBC New Comedy Awards

Deirdre O’Kane became a stand-up comic in 1996 and easily found her way in to the finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards of that year. She has played at the Edinburgh Festival every year since including 2001 where she not only performed her own solo show, Deirdre O’Kane is Crystallized, but also the two-hander ‘Tis Pity She’s Anonymous’. She has also played The Melbourne, Adelaide and Kilkenny Cat Laughs Festivals and has toured the Middle East, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Prague, Brussels and London.

“Unique star quality” – The Guardian

Deirdre O’Kane began her career as an actress and has played every major theatre in Ireland as well as touring in Australia, Canada and the UK. Leading roles include Mary in Juno and the Paycock (National Theatre), Miss Funny in At the Black Pig’s Dyke (Druid Theatre Co.) and Daphne in Present Laughter (Gate Theatre).Television credits include hosting the ten-part TV series of stand-up comedy and sketches called The Lounge (RTE) which included guests such as Rich Hall, Adam Hills, Jeff Green and Dara O’Briain. She also played the role of Fiona in Owen O’Neill’s sit-com The Fitz (BBC).

In 2001 Deirdre (described in the Sunday Times as “absolutely superb”) played the leading role of Helen in Paths to Freedom, a six-part spoof-documentary for RTE/BBC Choice and last year starred in the RTE comedy series, Fergus’s Wedding.

2002 was an incredibly busy year for Deirdre. In July she appeared at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal which was edited into a short series for RTE hosted by Ed Byrne. In August it was back to Edinburgh with her second solo show and more rave reviews…

Quotes about Deirdre O’Kane

“won the audience over from the moment she opened her mouth” – Metro

“Deirdre O’Kane is an instantly charismatic stage presence and her brand of day-to-day anarchism stormed the place” – Three Weeks Magazine

September was filled playing the part of Noeleen in the feature film Intermission with Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy, Colm Meany and Kelly McDonald. Produced by Neil Jordan’s Company of Wolves, it is due for release internationally later this year.

Also in 2002, Deirdre O’Kane toured extensively around Ireland with Pat Shortt and released her debut video Deirdre O’Kane, Live At The Olympia (EMI). This year she plans a nationwide tour, kicking off with six nights in Vicar Street where she will be recording her second video for release in November 2003.

“O’Kane quickly sets up a rhythm of her own and when she exits, applause follows her all the way down the street” – The Scotsman

In 2011, RTE broadcast a critically acclaimed documentary made with his terminally ill father, My Dad Was Nearly James Bond. The openness and honesty of his presenting style combined with his restless imagination and insightful comic observations make Des  a “must-see” for fans of unique, inquiring and entertaining comedy.

Undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic forces on the international comedy circuit Des continues to travel the world with his stand-up shows. His most recent, My Dad Was Nearly James Bond, received its premiere at the 2010 Melbourne International Comedy Festival winning rave reviews and playing to packed audiences. Des has gone on to perform this confronting and personal show at the Montreal Just for Laughs, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and on a national tour of Ireland and the UK.

Des Bishop has released four stand-up DVDs including Des Bishop Live on DVD (2005), Tongues (2008) and Desfunctional (2009), which all secured top ten positions. Organiser and resident MC of the International Comedy Club in Dublin, Des has also written two stage plays in collaboration with Arthur Riordan. His first book, a family memoir, will be published by Penguin in October 2011.

Quotes about Des Bishop:

‘Charismatic, sincere, eloquent and always seeking the angle’ – Chortle

‘Funny, erudite and effortlessly delivered’ – The Scotsman, UK

‘Edgy material snappy never sappy Bishop has judged this one beautifully’ – The Age, Melbourne

A noted improviser Ian is a co-founder of The Dublin Comedy Improv (1992), where he still performs every Monday night in Dublins International Bar, which is Irelands second longest running comedy club. The Dublin Comedy Improv have recorded two hit radio shows for RTE. Ian is also a regular guest with the world famous Comedy Store Players performing alongside Paul Merton, Richard Vranch, Josie Lawrence and many members of Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Ian has also toured Australia, New Zealand, Azerbaijan,  the Middle and Far East as Whose Line Is It Anyway? with the original British cast members. Ian is also a member of the Steve Frost Impro All Stars and has travelled extensively around the world performing to packed houses.

Film work includes Separation Anxiety and The End. His television credits include regular sketches on RTE’s The Late Late Show, and more recently on BBC 1’s Stand Up Show, both as a performer with and writer for Ardal O’Hanlon.

Quotes about Ian Coppinger

With his brilliant one-liners, hilarious stories, and unique delivery, Ian has become… ‘one to watch (The Times) and ‘Dublin’s finest’ (Hot Press).