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London Irish Comedy Festival to launch this October

This October sees the launch of the first London Irish Comedy Festival. Centred around the London Irish Centre (Camden Square, London), the dates to put in your diary are 12th - 14th October 2012.

The aim of the Festival is to promote the wealth of established and emerging Irish comedic talent in the UK and Ireland and to highlight the London Irish Centre as a venue that promotes quality Irish arts and culture in the UK.

It is planned that the Festival will become an annual part of the comedy festival calendar. So as to firmly establish itself, organisers are promising "an electrifying line up of top class and emerging Irish and London Irish comedians and musical comedy acts."

Friday 12th October will see Abandoman headline a night of comedy. The multi award-winning comic hip hop rappers will, once again, be bouncing off audience suggestions to come up with a unique one-off show. They'll be joined by Neil Delamere and Fred Cooke, with Willie White acting as MC.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the venue, Sharyn Hayden will host a Musical Comedy Showcase for UK and Irish based musical comedy acts. One of acts on the night will be selected by judges to take a place in the quarter finals at the Musical Comedy Awards 2013.

Saturday 13th October starts with Cariad Lloyd - who was nominated for best newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2011 - hosting a free improvised comedy workshop for experienced UK and Ireland based comedians, which will culminate in an Improv Comedy Night.

Saturday is a big night of stand-up comedy, headlined by top multi award-winning comic Andrew Maxwell (pictured). He'll be supported by Aisling Bea, who won the So You Think You're Funny? competition at the Edinburgh Fringe this year; and circuit regular John Lynn (who is now managed by The Comedy Store). Eric Lalor, who was crowned Irish stand-up of the Year 2011 by the readers of entertainment.ie, is the MC.

Sunday 14th October is the final day of the festival, and it begins with Colm O'Regan delivering a matinee performance of Ireland's Got Mammies. His Twitter account @irishmammies has amassed nearly 50,000 followers in just six months.

Then, in the evening, The Nualas will perform their first show in the UK in eleven years. In a world where pop stars think nothing of singing in their underwear, The Nualas buck the trend by sporting proper yet unbelievably glamorous and shiny stage attire.

Here's a summary of the events:

12 October 2012: Abandoman, Neil Delamere, Fred Cooke, MC Willie White (7pm, £18).

12 October 2012: Musical Comedy Showcase hosted by Sharyn Hayden (7:30pm, £6).

13 October 2012: Andrew Maxwell, Aisling Bea, John Lynn, MC Eric Lalor (7pm, £18).

13 October 2012: Improv Comedy Night hosted by Cariad Lloyd (7.30pm, £6).

14 October 2012: Colm O'Regan presents Ireland's Got Mammies (2pm, £10).

14 October 2012: The Nualas (6.30pm, £12.50).

To book tickets visit www.wegottickets.com

To find out more about the London Irish Comedy Festival visit www.londonirishcentre.org or follow the festival on Twitter: @LDNIrishComedy