10 Days in Dublin, which kicks off on Thursday July 7th and runs all the way through to the following Saturday is something we very much like the look of. Covering music, theatre and comedy it’s got an excellent and awesomely cheap line up (seriously, most shows are a fiver) and you’ll definitely bump into some of team Culch at the gigs (in the unlikely event that bumping into us is a selling point for anyone).
Happening across a few entirely likable venues (The Workman’s and The International for the music and comedy and a bunch of others for the theatre listings), here’s a breakdown of some of the things we recommend catching:
Comedy
Conor O’Toole’s Manual of Style - A new comedy show about font - The International - 6:30pm, Thursday 7th July - €5.
It’s been described as ‘quirky and endearing’ by Chortle (aka The Comedy Bible). If you’re from the internet you should probably hit it up and get ready to click ‘Like’.
Fred Cooke’s ‘Comfort in Chaos’ - The International Bar - 6:30pm, Monday 11th July - €5
Fred is just lovely. And he plays instruments. And yes he’s Ferg from the Spar ads but we first knew him as Fred from the Cat Laughs and his comedy’s even more accomplished than his ability to look gormless. Give him an oul look.
Foil, Arms and Hog - Sketch comedy - The Workman’s Club - 8pm, Monday 11th July - €5
We’ve seen FAH do a ten-minute turn at The Inter, we’ve seen them headline a packed out Whelan’s, they’re hilariously sharp and well worth seeing. And we’re going with the hard sell on this because they’re straight after Fred Cooke’s show over in The Inter but we want you to know that you definitely should move your arse and catch both of them.
Keith Farnan’s ‘Money Money Money’ - Economic comedy from the Cork comedian - The International Bar - 6:30pm, Friday 15th July - €5
Keith came onto our radar one night when he did a slot at Stand Up at the Bankers. If I remember rightly, he was catching a bus back to Cork after his set, which is just dedicated. He offers up some very smart comedy. If anything, giving him a fiver just makes economic sense.
Theatre
Minute After Midday - The New Theatre - 8pm, 15th & 16th July - €8
It’ll be a sharp comedown if you’ve spent the first week of the festival hitting up the comedy offerings, but Fifteen Oaks’ Productions take on the aftermath of the Omagh bombing got great reviews in Edinburgh, and this is it’s Dublin debut.
The Rainbow’s End - Children’s adventure show - Players Theatre - 1pm, 11th-16th July - €7 (€5 for kids)
We presume it’s possible to both like pop culture and have children, and to that end we recommend to that small cross-section of Culch.ie society that Ofegus Theatre’s The Rainbow’s End is one that’s laid on with the kids in mind. Give ‘em their first taste of theatre.
Music
The Buzz Aldrin Allstars vs Super Mario Bros - Live video game scoring - The Workman’s Club - 8pm, Thursday 7th July - €10
“Their shows are improvised explorations, revolving around simple melodies, grooves, and loops. They hope some day to get quite good at it.” - Yeah, we don’t know either, but we reckon it’s worth going along to find out. Rarely have we recommended an event based entirely on a feeling of confusion.
Trinity Orchestra plays Daft Punk - insanely popular orchestral reworking - The O’Reilly Theatre, Belevedere College - 8pm, Saturday 16th July - €10
We’re heard out this from some foppish Trinity people. Apparently it’s deadly. Even if you’re not foppish.
Highly Strung - Comic operatic performance piece - The New Theatre - 8pm, Thursday 14th July - €15
If you’re in the moon to go completely mental and spend fifteen quid, then this has to be the one you go for. With absolutely no point in reworking it, here’s the spiel from the presser, verbatim: “And so a show was born - that mixes classical music and singing with bizarre characters such as Anke, an ex-eurovision backing singer on the look out for her 8th husband - or senor Schilacci, the nearly famous ex footballer turned Tenor with the oddly feminine voice (he no like to talk about it!). All this combined with the raw power of unamplified sound, classic anthems such as Nessun Dorma, Queen of the Night, Time to Say Goodbye, songs like Delilah, My Way, Big Spender and fiery violin solos, guarantees a musical experience unlike any other.” Hell yes.
That’s just what we’re into, but if you’re into making your own decisions the full set of listings is here. It’s looking like the best run of 10 days Dublin’s seen in a long time.
