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Rory Corrigan is a stand up comedian, age 17, living in the quaint hills of Ireland, the lucky(?) duck. But what caught my attention about his story was that, at not even a fully legal adult yet, the guy is already killing it with a following of nearly 60k on his TikTok meme page (he goes by @Jigbe), and performing at house parties and clubs all around his neck of the woods.
When I was 17, I was directionless, living in a small town in Maine with absolutely zero idea of what I’d be doing with my life. I certainly wasn’t plotting world domination with $60k in the bank. (This number is based on a fact I read a few years ago about the average social media follower being worth about $1.25.)
He also has a podcast on Spotify called Rory’s Post Office. Plus, he has a cool look, like a character straight out of Trainspotting:
OK, stop showing off, guy!
I guess I should write something about craic here, which is an Irish expression for something funny, but I never learned how to properly use it, or even how to properly pronounce it. I think it’s pronounced like “crack”. So do I say, he’s got good craic? Rory, share some of your craic? I give up.
I admit, many of his memes appear to be localized and thus, are lost on me, but in speaking to him on the phone, his humor was apparent. We had a fun and funny chat about the biz, and I get a sense that this fellow is going places.
So, maybe I’m just an old idiot who doesn’t understand his youthful references:
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Here’s a clip he made for Cowbelly, a notable (former?) comedy brand overseas:
As he was rattling off some of the names of his favorite comedians, I noticed they were all Americans. When I asked him about that, he confirmed that his entire comedic identity has been molded by American stand-up, and he said that in fact, much of the comedy that Ireland laughs at is American.
American comedians, take note — our ability to make folks laugh goes quite global (or at least it skips over the pond), like some kind of invasive, hilarious bug.
I have had some great times doing stand up in Ireland. The people of Galway and Dublin were really wonderful hosts to me as an American comedian. I never had a bad show there. And wow, that Irish breakfast! The only thing I hated about doing comedy in Ireland is that everyone in the audience is at least as funny as the comedian.
Rory does, what we call here in America, roast style comedy. Here’s a clip from his Instagram account:
I’ll be keeping my eye on you and your comedy career, Rory Corrigan. I think you’re going to be OK. But if I can offer you *one wee bit of advice* , it’s stay in school. Just in case.
Daily musings:
Jigbe | TikTok
Fascinating: The Aftermath of China’s Comedy Crackdown | The New Yorker
I found this old interview I did with the one and only Paul Dinello | Impose
Weekly articles and exercises dedicated to helping comedians find
their authentic comedy voice | The Authentic ComedianYour ad to 9k comedy lovers here; $40/wk | jess delfino at gmail dot com
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An Irish g’bye to you, dear reader.