The Best Comedy We Saw at the 2023 Dublin Fringe Festival

I attended the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 and was blown away by just how much the city transformed during the month of August. The population mushroomed and accommodation prices soared sky-high. Financially, things have only gotten more dire for performers at the Fringe, who put themselves in fiscal jeopardy to participate in the highly saturated festival. 

The Dublin Fringe Festival offers a more approachable experience and still delivers on artistic quality. This year, the festival’s theme was to “render the city limitless”—a noble but increasingly difficult goal considering the late capitalism madness eating away at much of Dublin. Nonetheless, attending these performances—solely comedy, in my case—gave me hope for my adopted home. 

Anyway, please enjoy my breakdown of the best shows I saw at the 2023 Dublin Fringe Festival, and the gifted performers who brought them to life:

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Are You Mad at Me? — Fiona Frawley

I’d seen Fiona Frawley perform just once before, opening a rowdy set near the end of the 2023 Paddy Power Comedy Festival. She held her own with the raucous, mixed crowd, but it was such a treat to see her perform her hour Are You Mad at Me? in front of an audience that truly appreciated her ability to speak to Irish women’s idiosyncrasies, in particular the shame that one might “wrap around you like a famine shawl.” Frawley was confident and charismatic, framed by a pink tinsel backdrop as she effortlessly weaved in the show’s theme of self-doubt and took us on endearing diversions.

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But He’s Gay — Shane Daniel Byrne

Having just come back from performing at the Edinburgh Fringe, comic Shane Daniel Byrne took full advantage of the home stage, relishing in his quick patter and the side-eye directed at the Brits sitting in the front row on either side of him (“They’re flanking me!”). The show explored Byrne’s trepidation around coming out—hard to imagine considering his self-assuredness behind the mic—and ended with a heartfelt message against the global rise in homophobia and transphobia. In between, Byrne delivered plenty of laughs with his quick wit and exuberant physical comedy, especially his bit about the angel Gabriel being the most flamboyant biblical character. Byrne’s emotional moment at the end of the set felt utterly earned after an hour of belly-laughs. 

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Calm — John Meagher

Comedian John Meagher was a natural on stage, wielding the volume and speed of his voice expertly as he recounted his childhood in the West of Ireland, then in the North, and later his move to the UK. Crucially, he lived in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, when his dad had some possibly shady dealings going on and daily life included British soldiers sticking their rifles in young Meagher’s face. The thick shell he used to protect himself in his childhood eventually stymied Meagher’s emotional expression in adulthood, resulting in a minor heart attack at age 36. From cardiac issues to thwarted proposal attempts, Meagher took us along his own personal journey with irresistible candor and humor.

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The Coil’s Lament — Síomha Hennessy

What can I say about Síomha Hennessy’s cabaret/stand-up show that hasn’t already been noted in Rory Doherty’s glowing review of her Edinburgh Fringe run? Hennessy was just as charming and funny as she was on Scottish shores, and being on home turf meant that she had another family run-in, this time with a cousin. “Didn’t I show promise?” Hennessy sang wistfully in her number “Unexpectedly Unfamous,” to which her cousin ruthlessly replied, “Not really.” One begs to differ, especially when Hennessy easily provided one of the cleverest, most hilarious hours of the Dublin Fringe, enhanced by the adept lighting and musical cues of her production team.

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The Scratcher — Kelly Shatter

Written by and starring Kelly Shatter, The Scratcher is a one-woman comedy about Nicole, who’s only recently come out at bisexual and is nervous about her new girlfriend’s birthday party. Luckily—or unluckily, really—she has a vice that can chip away at that growing anxiety: scratch cards. Shatter’s expert physicality—rubbing away vigorously at a scratch card while Magic Mike-ing all over the stage, or changing characters with a mere posture adjustment—and enthusiasm absolutely made the show. A special shout-out has to be given to sound designer HK Ní Shioradáin, whose choices perfectly added to the chaos in a story where everything that could go wrong did.

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Soup — Alison Spittle

Few comedians have such easy command of a room as Alison Spittle, whose excellence comes both from her storytelling skills and self-deprecation (including a tangent in the set where she realized she was pronouncing “chalet” incorrectly). She came out onto the stage—subtly adorned with fake plants to tie into an anecdote about her lush London balcony—sporting soup earrings and ready to ask the audience about our favorite savory liquids. In amongst the bits about her idea for a meaty face mask and a childhood bout with worms, Spittle recalled her CPTSD diagnosis, brought on unexpectedly while cat-sitting for a rich friend. An hour spent in her company goes by quickly, packed full of laughs, introspection, and tales about her wild family.

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Stars — Hannah Mamalis

It came as no surprise that Hannah Mamalis won the Best Performer Award at the Dublin Fringe. From the moment she emerged onstage as her Italian-American, neck brace-wearing alter ego to her hunched over portrayal of a murderous old cleaning lady, Mamalis made it clear she could inhabit just about any zany character she dreamed up. With a script that looped around, growing more and more absurd and beats were revisited, Mamalis proved herself an excellent writer as well as performer (it’s not your average show that contains the line, “Bark, bark, I’m Uncle Cum”). Her lighting operator Eimear Conroy and stage crew also deserve kudos for their impeccable timing, with their attention to detail selling Mamalis’ broader comedic moments. 

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Tiny Piano Man — David O’Doherty

Internet scammers and trolls are decidedly horrible, but at least the one who impersonated comedian David O’Doherty gave him the name for his latest show, Tiny Piano Man, as well as plenty of material to mine. O’Doherty delivered his signature comedy—wry observations uttered as he played piano—for the matinee crowd I joined, but his best moments were unscripted. Whether joking about latecomers or trying to lasso a glass of water he’d trapped in his mic cord, O’Doherty showed himself to be just as gifted an improviser as the jazz musicians who kipped on his parents’ couch (one bit about his jazz-mad dad listing the names of whatever artist was passed out on the sofa will certainly appeal to I Think You Should Leave fans). 

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Tony Cantwell’s Sketch Show — Tony Cantwell

Tony Cantwell initially rose to viral fame in Ireland for his impressions of a posh private schooler and an entitled middle-aged woman (Irish version of a Karen isn’t exactly right, but it isn’t exactly wrong, either). So Cantwell was clever in deciding to link together the sketches of his show with video shorts, easing the transition from Internet comedian to stage performer. Cantwell’s concepts ranged from familiar (an awkward first date) to the utterly unique (a French Dubliner named Rasher DuPont), all delivered with a singular exuberance. I’m not sure I’ll be able to forget his cat strip club (Litterboxxx) and eight-nippled costume anytime soon.

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