Interview with Connor McDonough-Flynn

CB: How long have you been gigging in comedy?

CMF: I started gigging when living in Los Angeles in 2007. I performed for 6-months and after a few year hiatus I began performing again on the 6^th January 2011. Haven’t looked back since. I gigged over 400 times and performed in 5 different countries thus far (Ireland, United States of America, England, Spain and The Netherlands)

CB: How would you describe your comedy?

CMF: Brainy, bizarre and boisterous is what my bio says, for alliteration purposes. I love to explore comedy, to test the limits and have fun with laughter, get people thinking and laughing at areas or aspects that perhaps they hadn’t approached before, and/or, giving another point of view or side to the story.

I enjoy dealing with the debaucherous topics that present themselves daily, the stimulating humdrum thoughts that provoke amusement and the oddball anecdotes that bring a smile to your face. There’s a method to my madness ladies and gentleman…

CB: Which comedians influence your comedy?

CMF: Bill Hicks, Louis C.K., Stewart Lee, Billy Connolly, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Dermot Morgan, Tommy Tiernan, Dylan Moran, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Pat Shortt, Bill Burr, Patrice O’Neal, Marc Maron, John Colleary, Rory Scovel… the list goes on…

CB: Did you always want to go into comedy?

CMF: Yes, even when I didn’t know, I knew… even though I… you catch my drift.

CB: How do you go about writing your material?

CMF: I write in my head constantly and bring the pen to the paper every day… Every. Single. Day! Whether on or off the stage, in front of a notebook, or walking around, my heads thinking in the hopes that the ideas will flourish.

CB: Do you gig as a stand-up full time or is it more of a part-time hobby? If so, do you find that your main job influences your material?

CMF: I gig full time and do whatever is necessary to continue to do so until I can make a living through comedy.

The day-to-day grind definitely comes across in my material. Life is the most interesting topic in my opinion; you can’t beat human beings, human nature and our relationship to the world around. We’re hilarious creatures… people… works in progress…?

CB: What do you find the most enjoyable and frustrating parts of the amateur comedy circuit?

CMF: The journey is the most enjoyable. The small victories, good gigs, it’s a lot of fun when my words are getting laughs and I’m connecting with the audience in stride.

The most frustrating is overly hyped gigs that are only promoted on Facebook… Even when they say there’s going to be LOADS! Thus leading to a gig that nobody shows up to because nobody did anything to inform people that the gig was on. Common sense, even among comedians, still lacks – in certain areas.

CB: What’s your favourite type of audience to perform to?

CMF: An open minded one…

CB: Have you been heckled a lot since you’ve started gigging? Do you enjoy being heckled? What’s the best heckle you’ve had?

CMF: I have been heckled, sometimes it’s enjoyable, other times not – alcohol usually has a strong say in the matter.

I was doing a small open mic in a hotel bar; I was 30-seconds into my set and a drunk guy jumped up and tried and wrestle the mic off me. He lost the tug of war and resolved to tell a joke without the microphone, about writing a book about failure – he got a simmering laugh. He then proceeded to attempt to sit on a barstool and fell on his ass; was a unique moment in time that was funny as hell. Sadly only the crowd of 5 had the pleasure of the experience – I’d say the drunken guy forgot about it, though he’d acquired another story for his book…

CB: What advice would you give to new acts thinking of starting out in comedy?

CMF: Do it for the right reasons and enjoy the gluttonous feast of failures…