2010 Edinburgh Fringe

More details

"One of the best things about watching live comedy is seeing a comedian get his second wind of inspiration. Sometimes an established comic suddenly finds something extra, and one of these comics is John Moloney. He's been a headliner at top clubs like the Comedy Store for years - yet his comedy has acquired more depth, as well as an even sharper edge." William Cook, The Guardian

It is ten years since comedian John Moloney has played Edinburgh but 2010 marks the return of the man whose dry wit has whet the comedy appetites of people around the world and won plaudits from press and public alike. Moloney, who won the award for Best Live Performer two years running at the London Comedy Festival, and was nominated for 'Best Live Stand-Up' at the British Comedy Awards, returns to Edinburgh with his new show Butterflies with Stretchmarks, which will run at The Stand from 6 - 29 August at 9.00pm

At 14 John already knew he wanted to be a stand up, influenced by the likes of Dave Allen and Les Dawson, and it wasn't long before he was performing. "I started on circuit when I was 20 years old and got into it via the 'Red Wedge' tour in the Eighties. They wanted music on the tour which I provided because I was also an Irish musician. I got the stand-up bug fully-fledged from that and never looked back."

John's multi-instrumental past started when he was eight years old and coming from a large Irish family in London, he says that this was almost inevitable. "The London Irish tend to be more Irish than the Irish themselves because they want to retain their culture. I started off on the accordion and, in fact, my first act on the so-called 'alternative comedy circuit' was as the 'angry young accordionist'. As comedy clubs became more standardised around stand-up I phased out the music and became a straight stand-up. I do still do the odd guitar song if one comes to mind."

"John is a firm favourite of the Comedy Store - and a firm favourite of mine." Don Ward - The Comedy Store

As well as being a musician John had another string to his bow too - he is a qualified teacher and taught French and German at a London school. "Rather wisely my father said it was worth having a back-up to telling jokes. I haven't needed it so far, touch wood, but I'm glad I did it. It was interesting and I enjoyed it and I think you take some of your performing skills into teaching and some of your teaching skills into performing. Children are just small adults and adults are just tall kids, if you are interested and interesting they will listen and it's the same in a comedy club."

Moloney still uses his linguistic skills in his career and has gigged in Hamburg and Berlin in German. "I appeared on the German equivalent of David Letterman's show, called Die Harald Schmidt Show, a perk that is part of the rich tapestry of this job. It stills seems odd though. I found a video of it a few weeks ago and put it on and thought 'what am I doing standing on stage in Berlin talking German?'"

John still gets a massive buzz from performing - and describes his first trip to the Comedy Store as a 'Damascene moment'. "To hear someone on stage saying what they thought, unsanitised, uncensored, was one of the most exciting evenings of my life. I still remember the feeling of the hair standing up on the back of my neck when I was performing there. Thankfully I still get that because I respect the job, I respect the art of it. It's still a great art-form to watch. I see stuff now and get excited as I was 25 years ago."

Both Dave Allen and Les Dawson were indirectly responsible for getting Moloney through the doors of the iconic Comedy Store. "I was a huge fan of Dave Allen. He was a fantastic storyteller and I just liked the fact that all there was a microphone, a chair, his whisky and cigarette, all saying 'come in to my world', there were no gimmicks." Of Les Dawson, Moloney says: "I thought he wrote the most beautiful stuff. Some of his asides were more beautiful than the main core of his ideas. It's this crossing t's and dotting i's, this attention to detail, that a lot of comedians kindly say I have too. I like to speak volumes in a short sentence, not to be 'jumpy up and downy' and say 'love me, love me'. I'm much more 'here it is, if you like it that's great, if you don't, well then I'm sorry, what you see is what you get'

"When my kids came along I didn't want to take all of August out, it's kind of not fair really. Now they are up and running they are old enough to go to shows and we're not worrying about changing nappies anymore I am ready to come back. Family first, career second."

With no nappy worries John is poised to make a triumphant return to the Fringe this year and approach the jamboree with a renewed enthusiasm: "It's great to be at The Stand where the audiences are so comedy-literate. I don't feel under too much pressure because I haven't been at the Fringe since 2001 so I am looking forward to airing polished routines to audiences who haven't heard them before."

The title of John's show this year, Butterflies with Stretchmarks is a line taken from one of the routines he'll be doing up there. Most importantly it has the byline 'an hour of stand up comedy' so people know it is not going to be about butterflies or stretchmarks!"

Going against the current trend for 'themed' shows, John's show offers straightforward solid stand up: "My routines have themes but my shows don't. It's a very traditional hour of comedy and there's nothing wrong with traditional. There's no agenda, it's not cleverer than the sum of its parts, it's just an hour of solid stuff by a bloke who has been doing it twenty years full-time, who will hopefully have you laughing every thirty seconds."