The Comedy Cast Interview with Irish Stand-up Comedian Lorcan McGrane

Summary: <p>Hello and welcome back to <a href="http://thecomedycast.com/2016/06/08/comedy-cast-comedy-podcast/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Comedy Cast</a>; today you’ll be hearing from Irish stand-up comedian Lorcan McGrane.</p> <p>Lorcan’s a comedian that I really admire, a man doing his own thing and on his own terms. Unlike many comedians that attach themselves to a scene in a certain city he’s doing his own thing living in rural County Monaghan, a border county in the north of the Republic of Ireland, but it’s not Northern Ireland, even though it is in Ulster and has a border with Northern Ireland, and all the counties of Northern Ireland are in Ulster. It’s all a bit mad, Monaghan’s a bit like that.</p> <p>Anyway, we kicked off the interview by talking about the McGrane surname, Id’ read it was derived from a Scotsman who left the Kingdom of Dalriada on the Scottish isle of Jura. Lorcan put me in my place though and informed me that the name comes from McGrainne and explains why that’s a bit unusual.</p> <p>We spoke about growing up and living in Co. Monaghan with that constant feeling that everyone is watching everything that everyone does, all the time.</p> <p>We spoke about not falling into the trap of so-called ‘edgy comedy’ and how comedy promoters seems to love phrases like ‘no holds barred’ and ‘anything goes’ but you’re not allowed be racist or sexist, and you’re not anyway coz only scumbags are racist and sexist. Lorcan revealed that remaining real and truthful to yourself brings out the best in comedy.</p> <p>Lorcan told me about the time he was asked to do a set in front of the local GAA crowd, which didn’t really go down as well as had been hoped.</p> <p>We chatted too about two of Lorcan’s favourite subjects, geek culture and films, in particular superhero movies.</p> <p>The commonalities of teaching and stand-up comedy get a mention too, Lorcan is a lecturer in pop culture and has done his fair share of substitute teaching too so we chat about that and what they have in common.</p> <p>The rise of ‘fake news’ gets a mention too, it’s only coming to the fore now but Lorcan tells us it’s been around for a good while.</p> <p>We speak about some of Lorcan’s alter egos on stage, Dermot H. Dark Materials, Livid Lorcan and Defective Deckard 237 and how exploring themes through new characters can open up a whole new take on things.</p> <p>We spoke then about the advantages of being a stand-up comedians while living in Co. Monaghan, not too far from the Dublin and Belfast scenes but still too far away from them to fell connected to them and how ploughing his own furrow suits Lorcan down to the ground.</p> <p>Finally then we spoke about Lorcan’s comedic influences and his advice for new comedians.</p> <p>Lorcan McGrane’s Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/lorcychief" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a></p> <p>Lorcan McGrane’s Soundcloud: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/lorcychief" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a></p> <p>Lorcan McGrane’s Tumblr: <a href="http://lorcychief.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a></p> <p></p> <h4><strong>Get in Touch</strong></h4> <p>Don’t be shy, get in touch with <a href="http://thecomedycast.c"></a></p>