Patrick Kielty records Radio 4 stand-up show
- Patrick Kielty has recorded a stand-up show for Radio 4 about Northern Ireland after Brexit
- Borderline: A Postcard From The Edge Of The Union will form part of the BBC's Festival Of Funny
Patrick Kielty is the latest comic to land a Radio 4 special.
He is recording Borderline: A Postcard From The Edge Of The Union, in which he pledges to explain what's really happening in a post-Brexit Northern Ireland.
The stand-up special is one of several confirmed by the BBC today as part of its newly announced Festival Of Funny, featuring commissions across television and radio.
Kielty has been critical of the new Irish sea border and took to Twitter earlier this month to lament the Prime Minister's record on Brexit, sarcastically suggesting that it's "not like a border in Ireland versus a border with Britain has ever led to violence in Northern Ireland before. Seems like he's just done his best. Again."
Recorded remotely from his hometown of Dundrum on March 6th, Kielty, who lived in Los Angeles till last year, will share his experiences of Ireland, from the ceasefire to the present day. Borderline is produced by Claire Jones (Simon Evans Goes To Market, The Lee Mack Show).
The special joins previously announced Radio 4 stand-up showcases for Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Jayde Adams, Rachel Parris, Eleanor Tiernan, Imran Yusuf, Anna Morris, Stephen Buchanan, Jacob Hawley, Tom Mayhew and comic poet Elvis McGonagall, as well as Gemma Arrowsmith's Emergency Broadcast sketch show.
Kielty's father, Jack, was shot dead by the UVF in 1988, when the comedian and presenter was just 16. He recently described the early release of his father's killers from prison as "a price worth paying" if it helped achieve peace in Ireland.
Speaking to former Irish President Mary McAleese on her RTÉ show All Walks Of Life last month, he described the killing as "an assassination".
He also recently made his leading man debut in a film, shooting the bittersweet comedy drama Ballywalter.
The comic plays a budding stand-up whose marriage has recently broken up in the film, which was written by playwright Stacey Gregg and is expected to air later this year.