You have been fortunate enough to StumbleUpon or Silly Walk your way to our glorious corner of the internet. Welcome to the NUIG Comedy Soc website, a place for news, info and hilarity (but don’t expect too much of that, oh no).
Basically, this website is a place for us to self promote and be awesome, so that’s what we’re going to do. If you want up to date and frequently updated news, our Facebook and Twitter is probably better for that. Here is more like the hub of our endeavours, everything starts out here and gets blasted elsewhere for your convenience. You can’t say we don’t think of our members, now can you? Well, okay, I presume you can but it’s just NOT TRUE. We’re always thinking of our members; they’re rather fabulous.
We should say now, for the sake of being caring and knowing webmasters (as in, MASTERS OF THE WEB) that the site is still undergoing some minor maintenance and tweaking as we move over to land of the WordPress hosting, so please don’t be horrified if we 404 you or look less pretty every now and again. It’s all about the looks with you people, but the trauma will be worth it in the long run. The changeover allows a much more dynamic and supportive user interface for those who will be running the site next year, which means no more silly HTML files! Hooray! So yes, it will be worth it.
We promise, and Comedy Soc-ers? We don’t lie. Often. Not really.
Just a little bit sometimes in the garden after tea.
We take it back. There are no promises here.
Don’t forget, our Comedy Soc discount deals run allllll summer long with Róisín Dubh Comedy! Tickets will continue to be €5 from the Socs Box or €7.50 on the door with your cards (which can, as always, still be collected from the Socs Box).
Róisín Dubh Comedy have some great line ups ahead, including sets from Josie Long, Andrew Maxwell, Dead Cat Bounce, Glenn Wool and the return of the amazing Mad Hatter’s Tea Party!
Don’t miss out on this superb season of comedy!
We return from BICS covered in sand and good memories. Alas, we did not win our category but fun was had none the less. Congratulations to all the winning societies, to our lovely friends at Comic Book Soc in particular in winning Best New and for being the only NUIG success story of the night.
There was many hijinks throughout the night and I would like to commend all you Comedy Soc members on being well and truly brilliant all night. I like to think we represented ourselves well, even when our Auditor decided running into the sea fully clothed at 3am was a good idea and when the surviving committee were scoffing down non-egg filled breakfast rolls in Eyre Square at 8am, watching people with real jobs arrive in to work. They were just jealous and you know it. I also appreciate the mammoth efforts of the other societies that got involved in making the beach party happen and be awesome. We were delighted. GOOD JOB, BICS TEAM!
There will be comedy throughout the summer, so feel free to keep up to date over our Facebook and Twitter for the usual deals. This is probably going to be my last post in this position (Auditor, three years running thank you very much – and yes, I did refer to myself in the third person earlier, deal with it), so I would like to take the chance to thank you all for an absolutely amazing three years. Thank you to everyone who got involved and made Comedy Soc what it is today. You are all the absolute best and I couldn’t even begin to imagine the last few years without it in my life. A huge thanks to the Socs Box crew and my committee, you all made life so much easier. Thanks as well to the Róisín Dubh and Kevin for their never ending support with deals and organising fab gigs that made all of this far more approachable to students who weren’t interested in performing. I suppose I should also thank God and my family, but if I head down that route it’s gonna get even more ridiculous than this already is, so I’m gonna stop there. It’s been awesome.
Basically, what I’m trying to say, is that you’re all playaz and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
With love,
Your often drunk and rarely hilarious Auditor,
Melissa Mannion
We at the Comedy Soc are big fans of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and would absolutely love to give our members a shot at taking part. There’s some details on street teams and venues that you can work for when over there below. If you need a reference of any sort, feel free to get in touch with the society and one of the committee will be happy to oblige!
Please keep in mind that deadlines may be up on some of the ones below. Do try and get your applications in ASAP!
PLEASANCE: Click here!
ED FRINGE: Click here!
GILDED BALLOON: Click here!
MICK PERRIN PROMOTIONS
We’re looking for hardworking, enthusiastic and friendly people to join our Street Team in Edinburgh 2011. This is a volunteer position, but we will provide an expenses rate of £750 for the full four weeks. You will need to stand around in the rain a lot, but you’ll also see a great deal of fantastic comedy, make some new friends and really feel part of the festival for the Summer. Working hours are approx 6 hours a day. You will need to be based in Edinburgh, as there is no accommodation provided. You must be aged 18 or over.
For more details, please send a copy of your CV to rowan@mickperrin.com.
Interviews are being held in London the the 15th and 18th and in Edinburgh on the 20th April.
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ASSEMBLY
We have vacancies within our Box Office, Front of House, Information Desk, Street Team and Catering departments for the 2011 Festival Fringe.
For Box Office, previous experience is required and applicants must be over 18.
Please complete the application form below, and send it to us as directed.
Download Excel Application Form – http://www.assemblyfestival.com/assembly_images/file/appform2011v2.xls
TECHNICAL
If you have previous Technical experience and are interested in joining our technical please e-mail your CV to technical@assemblyfestival.com
BARS
Assembly operates several bars during the festival and are looking for experienced Bar staff. If you have previous bar experience and are interested in joining our team then please e-mail your CV to bars@assemblyfestival.com
Comedy Soc members voted for the new committee last Monday in the Annual General Meeting. Robin Allen was elected Auditor of the society after climbing up the ranks from Secretary to Vice-Auditor last year. Newcomer and Best Fresher nominee Aisling Clancy was elected Vice-Auditor for the coming year.
Other positions were filled by non-committee members who were warmly welcomed to the fold. Áine Ní Raghallaigh was elected to PRO, James Field-Corbett will be Treasurer for the upcoming year and Molly Heatley-Mulhall was elected Secretary after spending the year as an OCM. This year’s Treasurer, Niall Sweeney, decided to step down into a more general role of OCM and Mark Kelly, a Comedy Soc member, was also made OCM for the coming year.
When asked what his plans were for the society, our incoming Auditor had this to say: “Move the society from strength to strength, diversify the events to include more comedy more of the time and focus on bringing it on campus as well as promoting our own people.”
Comedy Soc can certainly look forward to an exciting and fresh take on the year ahead!
The Comedy Society has teamed up with both the English Society & the Human Rights Society to deliver two fantastic gigs this month! The first will be held as part of Muscailt; the amazing Tim FitzHigham will be performing his hit show Gentleman Adventurer in the Bailey Allen Hall on Tuesday, 8th Feb from 9:30pm. It’s a free show and all are welcome! The second is the return of the brilliant Keith Farnan with Sex Traffic on Tuesday, 15th Feb as part of SHAG Week. Tickets will be 3 euro from the Socs Box.
Gentleman Adventurer debuted in the Edinburgh Fringe last summer to a marvellous reception. Renowned for his Fringe consistency, Tim FitzHigham (in typical FitzHigham fashion) performed his show in a boat-shaped building to enhance the audience experience of gentlemanly adventuring. The man is like an amalgamation of Monty Python and certainly represents the supposedly long lost idea of a classic British eccentric to the highest degree possible. He’s conquered rivers in boats made of paper, rowed to France in a Bath tub, run across deserts in suits of armour, up and down volcanos and nearly died taking inflatable rubber things down Olympic Ski Slopes and many other awe inspiring, death defying, artistically questionable, feats of endurance and largely pointless quests – mainly because he doesn’t get out much – come and hear about the latest…
‘Like a valuable old coin’ Andrew Maxwell
“The fragile spirit of British eccentricity lies in the horned hands of this idiot. God help us! ” Suggs
“Tim FitzHigham only exists because PG Wodehouse didn’t invent him first” Dave Gorman
“Many people have foolish adventures few make them so consistently hilarious” Dara O Briain
The following week will see the return of the critically acclaimed Keith Farnan to the NUIG campus to perform his Edinburgh show from last year: Sex Traffic: How Much Is That Woman In The Window?. Tickets will be 3 euro and available from the Socs Box. He will be performing as part of SHAG Week on Tuesday, Feb 15th at 7pm. Sex Traffic is the third in a series of thought provoking and poignant shows. His previous shows Cruel and Unusual (about the Death Penalty, performed in NUIG last year in aid of Amnesty International) and No Blacks. No Jews. No Dogs. No Irish. All Welcome (about racism and fascism) both enjoyed sell-out West End and Edinburgh runs and proved that Keith is not only one of the more challenging comedians on the scene, but also the next best thing to come out of Ireland. In Sex Traffic, Keith looks at whether we value women or if we simply put a price on them. In a year when Primark were caught selling push up bra’s to 7 year olds, a Doctor revealed she was the high class escort Belle De Jour, and the Mumsnet Election returned even fewer female MP’s, women’s right to equality seemed to be on the ropes, and they don’t seem to know there’s a boxing match happening. At the same time, Iceland has turned to a female Prime Minister and the EU have turned to Angela Merkel to save them from ruin…or clean up the mess. So what do we want from women, and what do they want from themselves?
“Farnan has taken the age-old women are from Venus, men are from Mars line and given it a sharp, funny and very relevant spin” Chortle
“Utterly charming and highly intelligent” The Stage
“This is political comedy at its best, perfectly balanced, deadly serious and very funny” Fest Magazine
So, we at Comedy Soc urge you not to miss either of these shows. They both experienced near sold-out runs on the Fringe last summer and have proven their worth there and surpassed expectations year and year again. We’re excited, and we hope you are too.
MEETING #1
- Membership Cards – agreed. We should get them.
- Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – We will run in conjunction with the newly founded Nom Soc and host as part of the Students’ Union Mental Health Week. We will look into using the BOI Theatre. Flyering schedule will be texted out. We’re going to make it a free event. Tickets to next week’s comedy show will go as a prize for the Best Hat.
- RTÉ Stand & Deliver Recordings – Guestlist agreed with venue. Text reminder to be sent out to everyone who signed up.
- Galway Comedy Festival – Deals are being worked on, depends on the demand and the performer. At least one show each day will have a student deal. These are the ones we focus on selling.
- EGM – Need to fill positions before Socs Training.
- Committed Comedy – New comedy night organisers have approached us. Have a think on how best to work with them.
MEETING #2
- Membership Cards – Purchased, being dispersed. Hurrah.
- What members want? – Improv, writing workshops. Trip abroad. Hoodies.
- Who to bring over for Healthy Living Week? – Tiernan Douieb, Foil Arms & Hog suggested, approved. Free show again.
- Comedy Festival Launch – All welcome. Food, media etc. All shows have limited tickets available at a student price. Excellent work.
- Socs Training – Success. EGM filled each position, welcoming many first years to the fold. The society will live on!
MEETING #3
Up next!