'Longford shaped our humour': Popular Longford comedians excited for local Backstage show

Longford comedians Enda Whitney and Jimmy Jests and Tipperary funnyman Tom O'Mahony, who lived in Longford for a period and has a strong affinity with the area, are due to take to the stage for a special comedy show in Backstage Theatre on Saturday evening.

The trio are all popular stand up comedians who along with Seán Ryan, Cathal Shanagher, and Ken Lindsay will be bringing the ‘Wild Galway Comedy Club’ experience to Backstage in Longford as part of their Irish and European tour on April 25.

Mostrim, Edgeworthstown native Enda is a co-founder of the Red Line Comedy Club in Galway with Seán Ryan, Cathal Shanagher, and Ken Lindsay, which was established last year.

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Enda, who will be the host for the upcoming night in Backstage, said he learned stage craft in youth clubs and school in Edgeworthstown and in Longford town and he was 'nourished' by a former Longford person of the year Pauline Flood.

The 39 year-old who recently supported well-known comedian Fred Cooke, stated being a footballer and Scór na nÓg member in Longford 'shaped his sense of humour along with school and the people' and he is sure 'it's the same for Jimmy' Jests also known as Jimmy Connell.

Enda said he has many stories of positive development from his younger years growing up in Longford and he is sure Jimmy had similar experiences. "I was lucky enough to be part of Scór [na nÓg] and all of those things.

"Pauline Flood was involved with that and she won the person of the year award and she made sure there was Scór and all of those activities when we were younger and that is where our sense of humour were developed.

"We were lucky to have activities like that in small towns."

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Enda, a former St Mel's College pupil, is delighted that Red Line Comedy Club is thriving and going from 'strength to strength' and he explained there is a strong county Longford connection to the fore.

"Just most recently we brought Red Line and their show 'Four Sips of Irish Comedy' to Prague to the renowned Metro Comedy Club, one of the biggest Eng-lish-speaking clubs in Europe.

"We sold that out and then we did a big show in Amsterdam as well. "So, it's going from strength to strength and I suppose what we're trying to do is bring comedy out to more places," he added.

Enda, a part-time comedian whose day job is as a therapist in migrant support for Galway City Council, said comedy is a passion for all of them at the Red Line Comedy Club show and for special guests Jimmy and Tom.

Enda said Red Line are bringing Edgeworthstown native Jimmy Jest as a special guest, for the show and headliner Tom O'Mahony has worked and lived in county Longford previously and he "always wanted to perform back in Longford again".

Enda and Jimmy, who have toured extensively, did a charity comedy night with Voices of Longford to raise money for a community group in September last year.

"We said we'd come back because we enjoyed the show at Backstage and we enjoyed being there. "And we said we'd come back and bring Red Line Comedy Club and bring a couple of guests with us.

"Tom has lots of stories about his experiences of Longford as well and he has a soft spot for the area as well. Enda said Jimmy is very popular and is very well-known.

"Jimmy's great, not just good at putting up all his online content and very well-known online character, but he's got a great stand-up show as well. "Jimmy went on tour last year.

"Tom is on tour this year with 'Oh My Honey. and I actually did a show with him in the Town Hall Theatre in Galway "He has worked with the likes of the two Johnnies and Tommy Tiernan as well."

Enda said the different 'experiences' himself and the co-founders of Red Line Comedy Club has been an advantage.

"The four of us in Red Line, Cathal, Seán, myself and Ken, we've kind of found a nice family in Galway and we have a nice popular club in Galway.

"Lots of comedians want to play there all the time.

"We have had 60 comedians in Galway this year and then, some of the bigger more seasoned acts like Tom and Jimmy want to come to theatres with us because we're just enjoying it.

Tickets for the show can be purchased on the Backstage.ie website or through the Red Line Comedy Club social media pages.