All the way from Tallaght!
He plays Vicar Street in Dublin tonight and if you haven’t heard of Al Porter, where have you been?!
Here are five things you need to know about the young Tallaght comic:
1. He was going to be a priest
He was an altar server for years and went to see Pope Benedict on World Youth Day as a 16 year old. Al was 16, not the Pope.
He planned to go into the seminary, but his mother convinced him to do a philosophy course first in Trinity. There he discovered alcohol, sex and a realisation that he didn’t really believe in God. Comedy took over then.
2. He has spoken at the United Nations in New York
He was chosen along with some other Irish students to visit schools in New York and to give a speech about poverty at the United Nations office.
3. He has appeared in a show at the Olympia Theatre in each of the last 12 years
As a ten year old, he played the part of a young Robbie Keane in I,Keano.
This year will be his 11th panto in the Olympia and he is writing the thing! It’s called ‘Freezin’ and it’s a send up of the Disney film, Frozen.
4. Niall Horan wanted a pic with Al
Just as One Direction were an embryonic X-Factor conception, a young Niall Horan went to the Olympia to see the panto.
He was dazzled by Al singing Amarillo alongside Mary Byrne and asked to have his picture taken with him after the show.
5. He’s only twenty bloody two!
It feels like he’s been around for ages but he’s still a just babby. 22 makes him the youngest ever comedian to headline his own show in Vicar Street.
Al Porter plays Vicar Street tonight and also March 21st and April 10th. Tickets available here
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
