Next up the comedians.
The CraicFest’s busy spring season continues Friday night at the Wolfhound in Astoria with its annual ComedyFest.
The special guest this year is Síomha Hennessy, a Dublin-born comedian and singer-songwriter. Her solo musical comedy “The Coil’s Lament” has had recent sell-out runs in both Edinburgh and Dublin Fringe festivals.
Festival Director/founder Terence Mulligan commented, “Síomha brings the Irish sensibility to this show and we are lucky to have her.”
He continued, “Craic Comedy Fest has the most diverse lineup yet. This is part of our long-term planning to make our events more inclusive. Delighted to have such dynamic comedians such as Aidan O’Kelly, Abby Govindan and Paige Gallagher.” The show begins at 8 p.m. See thecraicfest.com for details.
ComedyFest’s previous special guests have included Colin Quinn, Ardal O’Hanlon and Deirdre O’Kane. The last named was cited as an important influence by Síomha Hennessy when the Irish Echo caught up with her recently to ask a few questions ahead of Friday night’s show.
Irish Echo: What do you most enjoy about being a stand-up comedian?
Síomha Hennessy: When a gig is going well enough that I can do some spontaneous riffing in the moment. Sometimes the funniest stuff comes out that way. Often hard to recreate again. That’s the great mystery of the chemistry of an audience. The other element I enjoy is in the writing process when I first get an idea for a bit and it comes flowing out. The part where I later come back to refine it, and to put some structure on it — is a lot more difficult and frankly unpleasant. At that stage, the flow state is long gone, and I’m once again back to my default state of cursing everything.
When did you first discover you could make people laugh
There was a girl I wanted to be friends with in school. She was far too popular to be my friend under ordinary circumstances but I managed to capture her attention by misbehaving in class, passing her silly notes and generally being a total nuisance to all my teachers, just to make this girl laugh. It worked. Soon enough, we were joined at the hip, much to the chagrin of her pre-existing friends.
It was there that I learned the valuable life lesson that all you have to do to acquire the love and the acceptance of your peers is to always make people laugh, capitalize on your personality and essentially be a performing monkey at all times. All very healthy beliefs and I definitely haven’t spent the last 10 years trying to unpick them in therapy.
Are other members of your family funny?
Yes. Every member of my family is as funny if not funnier than me. Dark humor is probably our defining family characteristic. That and SSRI use.
Do you have a painful “dying” on stage story to relate?
Indeed I do. My most recent atrocity happened when I completely misjudged the tone of a St. Patrick’s Day after-dinner event I was asked to do for a much older second generation Irish American audience. Let’s just say my one-hour musical comedy show about the contradictions of the millennial female experience under late-stage capitalism left them more confused than amused. It was my fault. In hindsight, I really should have left out the Sylvia Plath poem. And maybe mentioned St Patrick at least once.
What about a career highlight?
I launched my debut EP at Dublin Fringe festival in September 2025, with a sold-out headline show at the Dublin Fringe Festival. I was joined on stage by a full band, and we performed six of my original songs, interspersed with standup and storytelling. It was the culmination of several years of work in both songwriting, and standup. Being able to combine them is my big goal. The show was nominated for the Dublin Fringe Spirit of Wit award. I later performed the show at the Dead Rabbit in Manhattan last March, which went really well and I had so much fun doing it.
Who are your biggest comic influences?
Growing up in Ireland, Tommy Tiernan was a massive influence. I remember watching his specials with my siblings, on DVD. Deirdre O’Kane was and is a trailblazer, she’s brilliant. In such a male-dominated industry, she was the one who made so many of us young women see comedy as a path we could take. Because I’m a musical comedian, I love David O’Doherty. I also am very inspired by New York musical comedian Catherine Cohen. And I am massively inspired by comedians speak out about Palestine. Hannah Einbeinder. Katie Boyle. Aoife Dunne. Jen Brister. Tadhg Hickey. They each inspire me — both comedically and as people who use their platforms to stand up for what’s right.
Are New York audiences different?
I don’t know! I haven’t noticed any major differences but maybe I haven't done enough New York shows to be able to give a qualified answer. So far, I’ve had great gigs in New York City. Let’s hope that continues. As long as I stay off the Sylvia Plath poems!
