Author: Only Rapid

Celebrating difference; big hearts; strong minds; and supporting Irish creatives. With some laughs along the way⚡️

Des Bishop

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As well as being the very first man on the Rapid Sessions, Des is also the first person featured I don’t personally know. I’ve met him, briefly, through friends but don’t have a story to pin to him.

Living in London for so many years, I also missed his stand up and regular TV gigs here. Meaning my first real DB exposure was via his podcast, the aptly named Des Bishop Podcast, which I mainlined for seven days straight once I stumbled across it, to catch up with the weekly drop. Each week – it’s a little less frequent now – he interviews a different comedian, relevant to where he happens to be on the globe. It really is gold, an Inside the Actors Studio vibe, but with comedians.

Des moved from Queens to Ireland in his mid-teens in 1990 and later studied at UCC. For his first Irish TV show, The Des Bishop Work Experience in 2004, he lived on minimum wage in a series of different jobs in Ireland. He went on to make Joy in the Hood (2006), where he taught stand-up comedy in disadvantaged areas of four major Irish cities. In 2007, Des decided to learn Irish from scratch, living with a family in the West of Ireland for 12 months and spawning TV series, In The Name of the Fada. That went on to win an IFTA for Best Television series that year and prompted a radical re-think on how to teach Irish in schools. Des wrote a memoir and stand-up show in 2010, My Dad Was Nearly James Bond, for which he was short-listed for an Irish Book of the Year Award, touring the show extensively thereafter. In 2013 he relocated to Beijing, China to learn Mandarin, simultaneously recording the show Breaking China, which aired on RTE in 2014; and Stand up for China a radio documentary he made for the BBC World Service. Beyond that Des has appeared on countless stand up shows and festivals around the world, from the Edinburgh Comedy Festival to Live at the Comedy Store (Comedy Central). He’s released five best-selling stand up DVD’s and managed to co-write two stage plays in his spare time.

Here he spills his guts on stress addiction, fitting into small spaces and kicking back on stage.

The Grilling

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

I wanted to be many different things when I was a kid including being a priest in the very early years. Not a bad job for a boy with the name of Bishop. I guess I liked the fact that they were up on stage at the big gig every weekend. For a long time I wanted to be a lawyer. My mother loved watching courtroom stuff on the TV so I was probably influenced by that. I always had a desire to perform in me but I don’t remember saying I wanted to be an actor. I know I had an internal desire but nothing too vocal. I did want to be a journalist as I began to mature though.

What or who were you most influenced by in your mid to late teens?

I was mostly influenced by alcohol and drugs. Originally alcohol took over and from the age of 14-17 it had a very negative effect on my life. I took drugs to try to stop the madness of the booze but it just made me worse and changed my taste in music. I got rid of the booze and drugs but I never lost the love of electro from the drug days. On a more serious note the biggest influence of my late teens would have to be Narcotics Anonymous. The last few months of my teens were spent in those rooms and it gave me a foundation that the rest of my life is built on.

When did you start taking yourself seriously?

Around the age of 21. Firstly I ended up with loads of responsibilities in NA. I also had been properly in love and lost that so I knew about heartbreak. Before I turned 22 I had spent the summer in Dublin and made money working professionally as a comic and performer. I started a college comedy night in the autumn of 1997 and was booking acts and making money (and mistakes). I felt like I was doing something real and of my own making and was probably the first time I felt like I was living my own life. I also stopped taking money from my parents for that final year in College so that independence helped me feel like I had entered the real world.

Did you have a mentor or someone who championed you along the way?

I didn’t really have a mentor but I was blessed with great networks of people. My college friends always joke that we were lucky with the timing that we all came together but I think likeminded people have a way of finding each other. Also I found another great network of comics at the International in Dublin. Both of those groups were integral in giving me belief in my abilities to be creative and to perform. If it wasn’t for the Drama Society in UCC I would never have known that I could perform so naturally. Nor would the NA member who pushed me into Stand Up know that I had a desire to be on the stage. That guy was a mentor to a degree but my time with him was very short.

How do people react when you tell them what you do?

Stand up comedy is one of those jobs, like perhaps a physical therapist, where people automatically want to ask you questions when they hear that’s what you do. I don’t get people telling me that they have a herniated disc but I do get people very curious about how it all works. People also like telling you jokes which can be very annoying. In saying all that, its nice to have a job that people find interesting. You do get a ton of respect from people because it has a reputation for being a very tough job.

In terms of how you work, what is your craft/graft/ instinct ratio?

I am a great grafter in terms of gigging and practicing on stage. I am a terrible worker when it comes to writing to any sort of a schedule. I really need a deadline to write material. Even with a deadline I can be lazy writing jokes. I usually begin tours with an under written script. The plus side to that is I have always found my most creative time is on stage so I like leaving space for the material to grow. When it comes to other types of writing that I need to do, I can be a great worker when someone sits me down and says we need to get this done now. But if it’s left up to me to write a screenplay, a play, a book or something other than stand up I could just as easy let it slide for a long time.

Do you believe in writer’s/ creative block?

I haven’t really thought about it much because stand-up is quite immediate. Life is always happening and it’s easy to see the funny side of things. If I was stuck coming up with stories or narratives I think I could see how I would be bereft of ideas for a while. I would assume that part of it is when you let the committee in your brain judge your ideas before you put pen to paper: that stifles creativity sometimes. I do have to force myself to just put a sentence on the page sometimes even though I think it’s dumb. Its amazing how often it opens a door to something. It’s a cliché but often the action of putting the pen on the page or the fingers on the keyboard is the key to creation in this regard. I often compare it to exercise. No matter how many times I’ve gone for a jog and come back feeling better, it’s just as easy for me to talk myself out of going for one on any given day. I do the same with writing. I have never felt worse after giving some work a go but I can so easily stop myself doing it.

What do you love most about your job?

Performing. Sometimes I find myself in the middle of a climactic moment in a show just noticing how much I love making people laugh and being the centre of attention. Without exaggeration I could say that it is almost a spiritual thing because it really is where I am most happy. Recently, during an exceptionally stressful time in my life, when my mother was sick and our family were killing each other, I remember being about to go on stage and saying to myself “Finally I get to relax!” For most people going on stage is the least relaxing thing in the world.

What do you find most challenging?

I definitely find the writing of things other than stand up comedy to be challenging. I have developed my performance skills so much more than I have developed the skills of narrative. I don’t enjoy that type of writing as much so it can be hard to motivate myself.

What is your super power?

I can fit in anywhere.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken, personal or professional?

I guess becoming a stand up comedian is a big risk but it never felt that way. Professionally, the biggest risk I took was moving to China to make that series for a very small budget. It was a project I really cared about but it didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense in terms of my career. It paid off in the sense that the 2 years I spent there helped me to broaden my goals about what I wanted to do but it was a financial risk that didn’t pay off because it didn’t make any money and also stopped me making money for 2 years.

What’s your biggest fail – professional or otherwise – and what did you learn?

I haven’t thought much about fails in terms of my career. The biggest fail in my life was not respecting the person I was in a relationship with for 9 years. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that but at the time I had no idea why I loved her. That’s another way of saying I was too stupid and selfish to trust that there was more to life than my stupid ego and desire. I can’t look back with regret because I was clueless at the time. I learned too many things from that to write in a paragraph and seeing as this is meant to be about creativity I will spare you the details. It did inspire my show Desfunctional though, which was an attempt at looking at the funny side of intimacy issues and fear of emotion.

What is your relationship with time and ‘time management’?

We have a bad relationship. Every day I push things to the last minute. I am perhaps a wee bit addicted to stress so that helps to feed the addiction. This shows up in other ways though too and can sometimes cost me money. So the relationship is bad and I don’t even have an excuse because I don’t have kids or a dog so I should have plenty of time. I waste most of my time waiting to do things I should have been doing while I was waiting.

What experience has most shaped who you are today?

Getting sober without a doubt.

What would you say to an 18 year old now, hoping to trace your career?

It’s a big world out there, don’t be afraid to try and make all of them laugh, you are much better than you think you are.

The Des Bishop Podcast is free to download on iTunes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brídín Murphy Mitchell

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Factory-bleached baguettes stuffed with coleslaw, The Backstreet Boys and a perverse appreciation of Freddy Prinze Junior; independently, Brídín Murphy Mitchell and I had taste. Together, we made magic.

We met at work, sharing a beautiful, old office over-looking Parnell Square. She didn’t suffer fools, was a serious work-machine but had stand-up quality chat. I was a fool, had yet to locate my professional mojo but was powerless in the face of comedy. And so, two became one for 12 excellent months.

Plunging into the arts straight from school, Brídín studied Drama & Theatre Studies at Trinity College. By the time I met her at the Gate she was back from travelling and ready for a ‘real’ job. Three years later, she relocated to New York, landing a position at the Irish Arts Center almost immediately. Within four years, she was Managing Director there and an all ‘round boss lady. She stayed three more years before making the huge decision to move closer to home, changing careers in the process. She now works as a Music Publicist in London, looking after clients including Blur, Damon Albarn, PJ Harvey, Arcade Fire and U2.

Here she is on the business of being awesome.

The Grilling

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

The sixth member of The Famous Five

What or who were you most influenced by in your mid to late teens?

Books. I was a big reader from early childhood. I read everything I could get my hands on. And luckily for me, I grew up in a house full of books. Friendships were incredibly important to me too, I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful group of school friends, the nine of us are close friends to this day. We were completely in our own bubble of fun and friendship and I was protected from any bullying or peer pressure that so many kids endure in that period.

At what point did you start taking yourself seriously?

Probably not until my early 20s when I landed my first ‘proper’ job as assistant to Anne Clarke, then Deputy Director of the Gate Theatre. I was just back from a year in Australia, working in Eddie Rockets while doing a FÁS course to brush up on my computer skills. A friend of mine arrived into the pub one Friday evening with an ad she’d cut out of the Irish Times. She handed it to me and said ‘here’s your new job’. The confidence of youth!

Did you have a mentor or someone who championed you along the way?

Anne Clarke, now at Landmark Productions, was an important role model and early mentor for me. I worked at the Gate as her assistant for almost three years and I learned so much from her, on every level. I owe her a lot. And Michael Colgan was a great champion too. I first went to New York with a Gate production and immediately fell in love with the city. Two years later, when I decided to move there, he was nothing but supportive. The Gate was a very lucky break so early in my career.’

How do people react when you tell them what you do?

Interested. I usually get a lot of questions.

What do you love most about your job?

The people. I meet and work with a lot of interesting people. Musicians, artists, creatives from every discipline.

What do you find most challenging?

The travel and extended periods away from home can be difficult. But I can’t really complain, it’s a lot of fun too.

What is your super power?

The ability to fall asleep – immediately and completely – for whatever amount of time is available. 20 minutes, 12 hours… I’ll take it.

What gets you excited?

Visiting home and family in Kerry.

What is your relationship with time and ‘time management’?

I’m pretty good with time, I keep to office hours most days. Occasionally I’ll work late or have to see a show. I do travel a lot but I don’t find it too overwhelming.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken, personal or professional?

Moving from an established life and career in New York, to London, where I had no job and limited professional contacts. It was a risk but I was ready for a change, and thankfully it all worked out.

What’s your biggest fail – professional or otherwise – and what did you learn?

I have zero proficiency in languages. I have Irish and a bit of Italian but so many people I’ve met through work speak about 4 languages fluently. I like to think it’s never too late…

What experience has most shaped who you are today?

Losing my mother to cancer when I was 12 years old. It has given me a lifelong ability to appreciate the little things in life, together with certain fearlessness. I think that when you go through such a traumatic upheaval as a child, there’s a feeling that nothing can ever be that bad again. That was the case for me anyway.

What would you say to an 18 year old now, hoping to trace your career?

I’m not sure I’d have any strategic advice for someone starting out now. I never really had a 5 or 10 year plan as such. Much of my career thus far could be described as a series of opportunities, seized at exactly the right moment.

A belief in your own ability to figure it out and work hard is helpful. And when the hours are long and the work is not particularly well paid, as is so often the case in the arts unfortunately, everyone appreciates those who turn up on time, work hard and do their best.

And if you have an idea or a dream, go for it, what’s the worst that can happen? If you believe you can do something, you probably can!

 

 

 

 

 

Eileen Walsh

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Another week, another disclaimer: I didn’t consciously set out to run a series on TOTALLY AWESOME women working in the arts, but here we are, another week, another lady I love. Soon a man will pierce these pages, a human tourniquet to stem the oestrogenic flow.

Until then, here is the totally awesome Eileen Walsh.

When I meet Eileen – as I have, a few times over the years – apart from feeling like I’ve known her for decades, I’m always awakened by her honesty. This is in part due to my innate chemical attraction to ‘over-sharers’ – a finding-my-tribe kind of buzz – and because it’s not all that easy to find raw-talkers. Most people deal in finely crafted spin, if you listen hard enough.

Eileen got her first big break while studying a Theatre Studies diploma at The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College. Landing the role of Runt in the Corcadorca production of Disco Pigs, the show – and her performance – was met with rapturous praise and went on to tour the UK and Australia. Since then she has worked consistently in film, TV and theatre in Ireland and the UK. She received the Irish Times Best Actress award for Terminus in 2008 and the same year also won the Best Actress Award for Eden at the Tribecca Film Festival.

Here she is on bad reviews and swimming, among other pearls.

The Grilling

OR: What did you want to be when you were a kid?

EWA dog groomer. Which would have been a right little earner in NW10 if I’d stuck to my 10 year old dreams.

What or who were you most influenced by in your mid to late teens?

My sister Catherine, an actor too, who ran away to join the urban acting circus in Dublin and I thought she was an early Carrie Bradshaw! Also, seeing Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit made me want in on that world.

When did you start taking yourself seriously?

When I was seventeen. I had an innate belief that acting was something that I was good at and worth following. I worked with Rough Magic in Dublin and London and it felt thrilling.

Did you have a mentor or someone who championed you along the way?

You never really know ’til you’re older who was there leaving a bread trail. But I knew Leo Davis (casting agent) fought my corner when I got left out of one job; and the wonderful Vicky Featherstone always had her hand to my back.

How do people react when you tell them what you do? 

They look sad. Do a head tilt. “Tough job”

“Would I know you from anything?”

In terms of how you work, what is your craft/graft/ instinct ratio?

Love this question! But can’t quite work it out as I think I take some jobs just to work, pay the bills and buy Saltwater sandals for my kids. Each job takes 100% graft as it’s never really “money for old rope”, as my dad thought.

The Craft comes in when you turn up – be funny, be sad, be fragile, be touching, be there.

Do you believe in writer’s/ creative block?

A friend recently took a break from acting (mainly film) to reboot, as their life was mainly set-based and they needed more to draw from, like life in general and probably sleep. I get that work can run you dry sometimes. Like writer’s block it can also help to work through it. Keep swimming.

What do you love most about your job?

The short-term contracts (also the thing I hate).

What do you find most challenging?

Fighting the need to be liked.

Not getting a job, that’s a fucker. Particularly as the older you get the jobs (sometimes) get juicer so not getting them can be a sucker punch.

Hearing: “it’s not always the best actor who gets the part.”

I could go on.

What is your super power?

Spinning classes save my life. I teach at spinn-offlondon.com but even when not teaching I’ll go take a class every day – so good for your head!

What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken, personal or professional?

Every job is a risk. Having babies was a risk (how was I ever going to feed and take care of other people when I could barely manage myself)!

What’s your biggest fail – professional or otherwise – and what did you learn?

Awful reviews for one show I did. (Meaning, awful reviews for me, not for the amazing production or director so I’ll not name them). However, I did learn to always trust instinct and keep on keeping on with the work even though sometimes it’s like treacle. And never read reviews as they’re out to mess with your head even if they’re brilliant. Read them after if needs be but you always know a turkey when you’re in it so why punish yourself more?!

What is your relationship with time and ‘time management’?

Never late for work. Always late for everything else. Parent/teacher meetings, labour, drinks with mates. Life seems to run away with me.

What experience has most shaped who you are today?

Being the youngest of 6. There was never any money growing up but I have an incredible family. Their humour and love has made me who I am.

What would you say to an 18 year old now, hoping to trace your career?

Instinct. Follow your nose. Read read read. See shows ‘til you’ve got double vision; find only positives (that can be tricky); and, as I was once told in a moment of stage fright, “Leap darling, theatre will always catch you!”

Coming up, Eileen will be on RTE’s On The Hemline, part of their Storyland series; in SKY Atlantic series Melrose and back as Kate in Channel 4 Series, Catastrophe: Season 4.

 

Justine Mitchell

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I’d just like to kick-off with a disclaimer here and say that, as the Rapid Sessions progress, I’m unlikely to know every person I’ve managed to body slam into answering these sometimes deeply personal questions. But I do know Justine from birth.

It’s hard to put a shape on our relationship, other than to say that I was Baldrick to her Blackadder, Igor to her Frankenstein, Donkey to her Shrek; until I zipped her into a nylon suitcase and hooshed her down a steep flight of stairs in the mid eighties. There was a palpable frosting of relations after that, crystallised by her move to Hong Kong. We’re back on track now though and have been for about twenty years. So much so, in fact, that we are now writing a YA novel together. Justine is not only the smartest person I know, she is also very, extremely funny and freakishly wise.

Having studied Drama and Theatre at Trinity college, Justine went on to the now defunct Webber Douglas school of acting in London. She has worked for the past twenty years in British and Irish theatre, co-wrote and performed in the RTE sketch show ‘Your Bad Self’ and is currently in the middle of writing a novel (with me!), a sitcom and a play.  She was winner of the Irish Times Best Supporting Actress in 2002 and bagged the U.K. Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2015.

Here follows her gold.

OR: What did you want to be when you were a kid?

JM: An actress in the musical Annie – preferably the one who played the eponymous role – but any one of the anonymous orphans would have been freakin’ magical.

OR: What or who were you most influenced by in your mid to late teens?

JM: Music. Movies. The kids who smoked at the back of the bus.

OR: When did you start taking yourself seriously as an actor and/or writer?

JM: Oh God – far too early on. It’s only very recently that I stopped taking myself seriously and threw some of that energy at the actual work.

OR: Did you have a mentor or someone who championed you along the way?

JM: Loads. Drama teachers, English teachers, certain directors, casting directors, writers etc – it takes a village.

OR: How do people react when you tell them what you do

JM: At home – not well. My dog just tells me to fuck off.  Mostly people just ask if I’ve been on the telly. 

OR: In terms of how you work, what is your craft/graft/ instinct ratio?

JM: 10% instinct. 90% hard work.

OR: Do you believe in writer’s/ creative block?

JM: Yes. In my case stage fright and writer’s block are linked. Both related to the delicate eco system inside my head being invaded by a shit storm of bullies, narcissists and neg-addicts. Kindness helps.

OR: What do you love most about your job?

JM: That it changes my mind.

OR: What do you find most challenging?

JM: Sometimes getting out of my own way feels impossible.

OR: What is your super power?

JM: Ignoring shit.

OR: What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken, personal or professional?

JM: Saying no to stuff that is lucrative in the short time but potentially creatively uninspiring.

OR: What’s your biggest fail – professional or otherwise – and what did you learn?

There has been so much failure and rejection. To name one would feel like betraying all the others. Best advice: feel all the feelings – the pity, the jealousy, the sadness – then do it all over again like the beautiful masochist that you are. There is gold in them there failures – big and small. And no straight lines in nature. We are programmed to believe that a successful career trajectory goes in a priapic straight line. That’s just not true. Especially for women. Follow your own lead. Keep on failing. You’ll fail betterer each time  – to mangle the master, Mr Beckett.

OR: What is your relationship with time and ‘time management’?

JM: I think that frittering it away can sometimes be just as important as ‘diarising’ the jaysus out of every minute.

OR: What experience has most shaped who you are today?

JM: Psychotherapy. And seeing Annie at the Gaiety Theatre in 1982.

OR: What would you say to an 18 year old now, hoping to trace your career?

JM: Listen to yourself. Be kind to yourself.  Stop drinking until you fall over.

Justine is about to open in ‘Bodies’ by Vivienne Franzmann at the Royal Court Upstairs and starts rehearsals for ‘Beginning’ by David Eldridge for the National Theatre at the end of August. 

 

Mary Hickson

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The first and only time I met Mary Hickson was last New Year’s eve, when we were holed up in a friend’s house in the West of Ireland for 48 hours, with enough gin to see us through the winter.  Talking about musicality, or lack thereof, I confessed to the moment that I realised I couldn’t sing – when a 5 am crowd ruthlessly shut down my take on Bob Marley’s Redemption Song – and she convinced me to sing it again.  How we LAUGHED!

It was only then, after I’d doubly exposed my busted pipes, that I learned that Mary was essentially Ireland’s answer to Keith Moon, among many other things. Having studied music in UCC – staying on to teach Ewe Dance Drumming – she went on to do a Masters in Ethnomusicology in UL.  She then joined the original team behind the first Festival of World Cultures in Dublin, managed the Poetry Now Festival, was Director of O’Reilly Theatre, among many other projects before she returned to Cork in 2009.  From 2010 to 2015 she was CEO of Cork Opera House, responsible for completely reimagining and reinvigorating the creative programme and transforming its finances in the process.  She is now Director of Carraig Productions, Clonmel Junction Festival, Sounds from a Safe Harbour and Creative partner on HAVEN festival in Copenhagen; as well as Creative Producer for CrashLands, Crash Ensemble’s 20th Anniversary project.  Apparently she sleeps in September.

I spoke to the all ’round super ledge about blue skies, guts and forging your own path.

OR: What did you want to be when you were a kid?

MH: Honestly, I never had the ‘I want to be a ballerina’ thing; I was a happy little drifter for a long time. Never had a plan or any major ambitions really.

OR: What or who were you most influenced by in your mid to late teens?

MH: I loved music – playing the piano –  and was always doing calligraphy. I remember being a bit of a loner really – loved being creative but content doing things alone. I think I was inspired by me sisters – they always seemed to know where they were headed and I was in awe of that.

OR: At what point did you start taking yourself seriously? 

MH: I remember the moment actually. I was in the Corner House in Cork with some friends and I mentioned the advertised job for CEO in Cork Opera House. I said to them that I was thinking of putting my name in the hat – kind of half waiting for them to laugh – and one of them immediately said, ‘of course you should, we’re the next generation and it’s our time now.’ I felt about 2 inches taller then and knew in that moment that it was my job – the determination was flying out of me.  I had been freelancing for a time in Cork and teaching West African percussion at UCC then. I distinctly remember when I was offered the job in Cork Opera House that I was doing ok for myself.

OR: Did you have a mentor or someone who championed you along the way?

MH: I was very lucky to work with some inspiring people along the way from Jody Ackland at Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire; Mel Mercier in UCC; Olga Barry (a long time cohort of mine) and more recently Bryce Dessner (The National) who I am working with on many projects at the moment. They are all really good with people and care about others experiences which is something high on my priority list.

OR: How do people react when you tell them what you do?

MH: They think it’s interesting and the journey I have been on is kind of unusual too I think. I don’t really fit into a specific job title at the moment. My daughter is talking a lot about what she wants to be when she grows up and she has a list that she rattles off which ends with ‘and the stuff that you do mammy.’

OR: What do you love most about your job?

MH: Seeing the project realised to the best of its potential.

OR: What do you find most challenging?

MH: Budgets are always hard when you have big plans – there comes a point where you have to cut your cloth to fit.

OR: What is your super power?

MH: I am a good people person and I don’t get stressed much. I think I calm people, at least I hope I do – and that gives people confidence. I like to do things differently and am not afraid to take a risk.

OR: What gets you excited?

MH: Seeing a blue sky dream come together – the ‘imagine if we’ and then it’s happening – a bit like having The National and Bon Iver playing Cork in Sept – that has been a dream of mine since forever.

OR: What is your relationship with time and ‘time management’?

MH: I go through bursts of being very disciplined with work/life balance. When the festivals are coming so hard and fast I am working around the clock really BUT the pay back is a long break in September, hopefully that won’t change.

OR: What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken, personal or professional?

MH: Pulling together the Michelberger Music project last November was a huge moment for me. There were over 120 artists collaborating for a week together and I was responsible for putting the schedules together for them all at the weekend. It sounds like nothing much but it was the biggest professional challenge of my life and we nailed it!

OR: What’s your biggest fail – professional or otherwise – and what did you learn?

MH: I am very emotionally attached to the work. It can be a good thing and a bad thing at times. I have had to accept that this is who I am and how I do things – there’s a lot of love in there but sometimes it’s my enemy. There are times when you need to look at things practically and take the emotion out – I’m working on this.

OR: What experience has most shaped who you are today?

MH: Going with the flow and believing in the fact that everything will be ok I think. I have a very loud gut – always had – and it has served me well. I wish I had tuned into it earlier in life. It was my husband Luke who taught me to listen to it. He is the driving force behind everything I do.

OR: What would you say to an 18 year old now, hoping to trace your career?

MH: Listen to your gut!

Clonmel Junction Festival kicked off today and is running until Sunday July 9th.  Haven festival in Copenhagen is the 11th and 12th of August. Sounds from a Safe Harbour is on from the the 14-17 of September in Cork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

W E L C O M E

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Growing up, the closest I came to ‘culture’ was a Betamax cassette of Emmanuelle 3 – the French soft-core porn film – which I’d found while hunting for Christmas presents, aged nine. The boobs on the cover instantly set it apart as a prize find. I just knew that when I pushed it into the player on Christmas day, having quietened my young cousins and siblings before the big reveal, the place was going to go off.

And so it did. For about ten minutes. Until Emmanuelle and her mates started speaking, a clunky narrative kicked in and I had a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang mutiny on my hands.

Now, this doesn’t end with me building a porn empire, or even going into the film industry but it stuck with me; the high expectation of blowing minds v’s the disappointing reality. It could be that I just felt generally cheated that year – only days previously I’d hauled Santa and the Tooth Fairy out of the closet – but life just wasn’t the same.

I began rooting myself in reality to the point that I couldn’t connect with fantasy in any form– books, films, imaginative play. Whimsy wasn’t a thing in our family so there was no resistance there. During college, I subscribed to a monthly magazine that profiled infamous serial killers (I had a folder) and expected to follow in the footsteps of my frustrated-DCI mum.

Ok, so Emmanuelle 3 wasn’t entirely to blame for my fact-focusing cynicism but I like the porn intro so I’m going to call it a ‘trigger.’

Throughout this time – from about sixteen onwards – I wanted to ‘write’ but had no idea where to start. I was a messer at school, not taken seriously by any of my teachers (rightly so) and was too embarrassed to share my ramblings with anyone. I was also a sceptic; on the one hand believing that creatives or people working in the arts took themselves far too seriously, on the other feeling totally intimidated by their alien language and encyclopaedic knowledge.

Accidentally bagging a job in the marketing department of one of Dublin’s main theatres altered my thinking again. I had been working for a hardcore, sales-first, publishing house just out of college. It was chaotic and unpredictable, all the richer for the wired characters, Gardaí raids and perpetual drama; but ultimately it was about swapping your soul for cash. Nobody was there because they wanted to be there.

The theatre was different. Everyone who worked there – from the Production Manager, seamstress and Artistic Director to the barely-paid runners – loved what they did. Of course there were bad days, problems to negotiate, technical issues to overcome; an egocentric lead actor bawling you out of it; an over-familiar Director dropping lewd comments; but there was a sense of community and generosity of spirit beyond that which saw you through. And we were all, in some small way, contributing to a creative end. Or so it felt. The more I was exposed to these people – actors, lighting-, costume-, set- designers, writers, directors – the more receptive I became to accessing my own creative notions.

And although I later moved to London and abandoned a career in the arts to go back into magazine publishing (I couldn’t sustain a basic rent & eat lifestyle on a £12k salary) I continued to tap the London arts scene up for inspo when I could. Now, I’m back in Dublin and doing the same thing, trying to see as much good stuff as I can, while working and continuing to write my Tome. In whatever shape or form it emerges, committing to finishing a book has been as heart-breaking as it has been purposeful and fulfilling.

So, that’s my (very long) story, the porn to artistic enlightenment trajectory, where I suspect I’m currently a solid 65 on the 0-to-100 progress graph.

I’m not telling everyone to get out there and write a book or lash out a performance art piece but I am hoping to inspire some of you to follow your gut and put yourself out there, to shed your cynicism and get stuck into something completely new: maybe you’ll reignite a love you abandoned years ago or maybe you’ll book tickets to see a play. Who knows, if George Bush had stuck to painting the world might just be a happier place right now.

Each week, via the Only Rapid social channels, I’m going to be:

  • Highlighting a selection of my favourite Dublin-based upcoming events – from art exbo’s and installations to independent films, festivals, theatre, some music and live comedy.
  • Sharing information on current and future multi-level courses – writing/ stand-up workshops, photography, life drawing, print making, dress-making, weaving etc, again Dublin-based.
  • Supporting creative community directives, from open forums for deeper cultural understanding and social inclusion to visual artists coming together to make public art.
  • Championing the cause of the many displaced artists and makers who have lost their studio spaces due to the recent rise in property prices and the subsequent landlord cash-in.
  • Hosting a weekly Q&A with some brilliant people sowing their own creative paths, from established artists and makers, people who are making art happen and new writers putting themselves out there.
  • Dishing out lots of book love with reccos a-go-go.
  • Sourcing endless material to hero the power of lateral thinking.

Creative Ireland has committed to putting creativity at the heart of society as part of a five-year initiative, mobilising schools and communities, investing in our cultural infrastructure and presenting Ireland as a ‘centre of excellence in media production.’ This can only be a good thing though is likely building on the World Economic Forum’s 2016 report predicting that ‘creativity’ is set to be one of the most in-demand skills over the next five years, as we head towards almost total automation. Independent thinkers will be the new gods.

So, c’mon, let’s get on it. I was late to the arts, late to taking myself seriously, late to stretching my tiny mind. I’ve got Emmanuelle to blame for that, what’s your excuse?

Talk soon,

Only Rapid