BALCONYTV.COM 25/05/2008
Abie Philbin Bowman is steadily "sealing his reputation as one of the most thought-provoking comedians on the Irish scene." (Galway City Tribune). In addition to headlining gigs in Dublin, Cork and Galway, Abie has performed in comedy clubs as far afield as Edinburgh, Boston and London (where he debuted in the legendary Comedy Store alongside John Bishop and Frankie Boyle). His career in comedy started by accident: "I wanted to be a novelist, but -- tragically -- I had a happy childhood."
Abie is a regular contributor to a wide range of media outlets including BBC Radio, RTE's The Late Late Show and The View, TV3's Ireland AM, Newstalk 106 and The Dubliner magazine -- for whom Abie wrote a monthly column from 2001-2008. In 2006 he was a semi-finalist in Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny? His parody of The JCB Song -- featuring a Trinity student singing The BMW Song -- played extensively on Irish radio.
Abie's first one-man show, Jesus: The Guantanamo Years, took the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe by storm. The premise was simple: "Jesus Christ returns to earth, but doesn't get through U.S. immigration, because He's a bearded, Middle-Eastern guy, prepared to die as a martyr." The show was featured by over 30 media outlets including Associated Press, Reuters, the BBC, Sky News, Le Monde, The Financial Times, The Guardian and The New York Times. The Scotsman dubbed Abie "the face of this years' [Edinburgh] Fringe". The show completely sold out.
Jesus: The Guantanamo Years has since sold out across Ireland, travelled to London's West End, Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway (USA), and back to the Edinburgh Fringe for a second sell-out run. In November 2007, the show was chosen to represent Ireland at the World Performing Arts Festival in Pakistan, making Abie the only Irish comedian ever to perform a religious, political satire in a Muslim nation, under a state of emergency. It was boycotted by Ian Paisley's DUP. Abie responded "It seems pretty hypocritical for the DUP to criticise me for dressing up in orange and talking about Jesus."
Abie's new show Eco-Friendly Jihad tells the story of an environmentalist who -- frustrated by America's failure to reduce carbon emissions -- joins Al Qaeda. Eco-Friendly Jihad made its professional debut at the 2008 Galway Comedy Festival where it sold out. The show will travel to Edinburgh in August 2008.
Meanwhile, Jesus: The Guantanamo Years has been launched on iTunes. Within a month, it entered the Top 10 Chart for Comedy Albums in the UK, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland and Japan.
www.MySpace.com/AbieLaughs
Tune in again tomorrow!!!
Abie Philbin Bowman is steadily "sealing his reputation as one of the most thought-provoking comedians on the Irish scene." (Galway City Tribune). In addition to headlining gigs in Dublin, Cork and Galway, Abie has performed in comedy clubs as far afield as Edinburgh, Boston and London (where he debuted in the legendary Comedy Store alongside John Bishop and Frankie Boyle). His career in comedy started by accident: "I wanted to be a novelist, but -- tragically -- I had a happy childhood."
Abie is a regular contributor to a wide range of media outlets including BBC Radio, RTE's The Late Late Show and The View, TV3's Ireland AM, Newstalk 106 and The Dubliner magazine -- for whom Abie wrote a monthly column from 2001-2008. In 2006 he was a semi-finalist in Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny? His parody of The JCB Song -- featuring a Trinity student singing The BMW Song -- played extensively on Irish radio.
Abie's first one-man show, Jesus: The Guantanamo Years, took the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe by storm. The premise was simple: "Jesus Christ returns to earth, but doesn't get through U.S. immigration, because He's a bearded, Middle-Eastern guy, prepared to die as a martyr." The show was featured by over 30 media outlets including Associated Press, Reuters, the BBC, Sky News, Le Monde, The Financial Times, The Guardian and The New York Times. The Scotsman dubbed Abie "the face of this years' [Edinburgh] Fringe". The show completely sold out.
Jesus: The Guantanamo Years has since sold out across Ireland, travelled to London's West End, Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway (USA), and back to the Edinburgh Fringe for a second sell-out run. In November 2007, the show was chosen to represent Ireland at the World Performing Arts Festival in Pakistan, making Abie the only Irish comedian ever to perform a religious, political satire in a Muslim nation, under a state of emergency. It was boycotted by Ian Paisley's DUP. Abie responded "It seems pretty hypocritical for the DUP to criticise me for dressing up in orange and talking about Jesus."
Abie's new show Eco-Friendly Jihad tells the story of an environmentalist who -- frustrated by America's failure to reduce carbon emissions -- joins Al Qaeda. Eco-Friendly Jihad made its professional debut at the 2008 Galway Comedy Festival where it sold out. The show will travel to Edinburgh in August 2008.
Meanwhile, Jesus: The Guantanamo Years has been launched on iTunes. Within a month, it entered the Top 10 Chart for Comedy Albums in the UK, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland and Japan.
www.MySpace.com/AbieLaughs
Tune in again tomorrow!!!
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