Last Tuesday saw the launch of Quinns Craic house in Quinns Bar, Drumcondra under the watchful eye of Fintan Harvey and Andrew Gilmore. Being the lover of comedy that I am, I managed to blag myself in to the gig to review it and see what it was all about.
I had never been to Quinns before. I must admit the set up was very impressive. I was unsure whether having a comedy club in an actual pub would work (maybe I am too used to going to established comedy clubs?) but I must admit, it worked really well. The room was very nicely laid out and was a decent size with a stage and everything! Despite the fact that the gig was delayed starting (due to some football or something being on!), there was a really good crowd in for the opening night.
Ian Perth
On MC duties for the night was Ian Perth. Ian is, let me say, a very excitable guy but a damn good MC too! With tales of growing up in Tallaght – including having his school books covered in old wallpaper, a history lesson on Scotland and the link between Irish people and Scottish people to the awesome dancing displays on stage, he had the crowd laughing so much they needed the toilet a lot! My personal favourite however was his very serious complaint about the overuse of the symbol 
so just for you Ian
First to grace the stage was Simon O’Keeffe. He delighted the audience with stories about the fact ‘scumbags’ are just not scary anymore, why? Cos they have their socks tucked into their tracksuits! We were also treated to stories from Edinburgh which included being able to buy two particular things in a pound shop over there! My personal favourite and any men out there, you need to know this, you know the 5 second rule you apply to food as a kid? You know when it falls on the ground? Yeah? Well according to Simon you can apply that to women! Longer than 5 seconds before she’s up and you’re going home alone! Who knew it could be so simple eh? Simon is a fantastic comedian and is a joy to watch on stage. The audience definitely agreed in Quinns on Tuesday!
Next up was one of the organisers of the night, Andrew Gilmore. He was only doing a short set which centred somewhat around religion. Tales about his brother being gay and his Mam not accepting it very well and saying it was disgusting what they got up to also featured with a punch line from him involving him telling his Mam that picturing her son doing those sorts of things was worse! He ended his post by declaring that he was not the religious type!
Fintan Harvey
Funny man Fintan Harvey was next, the other half of the organising duo! Fintan started off his set by recounting a story of seeing a homeless guy with an iPhone and comparing it to being as much use to Jade Goody’s kids using a Mother’s Day card…. Fintan is one of those close to the edge comedians it seems! Though through the groans from the audience there was some laughter.
Edwin Salmon
Headlining for the night was the wonderful Edwin Salmon. This was my first time seeing Edwin despite having tagged him in loads of posts on Twitter and Facebook! Edwin challenged the logic that if you can make a woman laugh you are half way there! His reason? He never had any luck with girls! We learned from him that Offaly doesn’t have high crime rates because the Garda automatically assume the person committed suicide! Hmm just as well he doesn’t work for the Tourist board them eh? We also learned that Ed is a VERY big fan of Sean Connery, and can do a really good Scottish accent to! I loved Ed I must admit. Fab headline and fab end to a great show.
Overall Quinns went very well. It’s a really good set up. Even with the late start, once the night got underway it all went off very smoothly and without a hitch. I had a really good night. It had a very relaxed feeling and that is very important. I could see that the guys had worked very hard to make it as welcoming as possible. It worked. I would definitely go again.
Quinns will be a weekly event running every Tuesday in Quinns bar in Drumcondra, located down the back of the pub!
You can follow the lads on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/quinnscraichouse
