Having toyed with the idea of becoming a cyclist, then a professional jazz musician David O’Doherty had a brief flirt with telemarketing before (fortunately) settling with stand-up comedy.
Beginning with an open spot in 1998 he did his first open spot at Dublin’s Norseman Comedy Club he travelled the following year to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the first time and went on to win Channel 4 So You Think You’re Funny?. His first full show The Story of the Boy Who Saved Comedy received a nomination for Perrier Best Newcomer at the Dublin and Edinburgh Fringes.
David’s passion for cycling was not quashed however, and at the end of 2002 he preformed Saddled with his friend Bryan Quinn at Project Arts Centre in Dublin, which featured live repair of audience member’s bicycles.
2003/04 were spent travelling around to festivals in Melbourne, Montreal, New York, Kilkenny and Edinburgh. Gerry Mallon gave him his first headline spot at the Comedy Club in Galway and he supported musical acts such as David Kitt. He wrote a new stand-up comedy show David O’Doherty Creates Something New Under the Sun which was based on a short story he had written about a lobster called Shelly.
Following support slots for Tommy Tiernan and Rich Hall’s on tours of Ireland and the UK, in 2005, his 2006 show David O’Doherty is my name was nominated for the if.comedy Award at The Edinburgh Fringe and was performed in Dublin, Melbourne and New Zealand.
2007 saw his first major Irish tour and a series of documentaries, The Modest Adventures of David O’Doherty on Irish television.
In 2008 his new stand up show Let’s Comedy was performed in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and at the Edinburgh Fringe, where it received the if.com Award for Best Show.
• David O’Doherty presents Seize The David O’Doherty at ARC on Wed 13 Mar at 8pm. Tickets are priced F: £14.50 C: £12.50 and can be purchased here.