CityStage will be transformed into an Irish pub on Friday and Saturday nights.
Keith Aherne, Derek Richards and Mike McCarthy St. Patrick’s Day is weeks away, but CityStage in Springfield into an Irish pub on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Irish Comedy Tour takes the party atmosphere of a Dublin pub and combines it with a boisterous, belly-laugh-trio. The clever, or as some call them “clover” comedians, whose ancestors hail from the Emerald Isle, include the Detroit-born Derek Richards, Boston-born Mike McCarthy, and from Dublin, Derrick Keane.
“It’s an Irish pub and comedy show thrown into a food processor,” laughed Richards.
Audiences will be treated to Richards’ tales about his mom’s dog, the holidays and dating a stripper. He has appeared on the Bob & Tom Show, XM and Sirius satellite radio, and the Weather Channel’s Top 10. McCarthy’s no-holds-barred humor has landed him on Comedy Central and Showtime. The “comedy barbarian,” as he calls himself, takes no prisoners when it comes to poking fun at society’s most sensitive topics. And Keane, who has performed with many of his home country’s favorite acts, including the Dublin City Ramblers and the Wolfetones, will add some authentic Irish music to the show.
“It’s also our first show in Springfield,” said Richards, who traded in the cold for the heat of West Palm Beach, Florida, where he now resides. “But, two of the guys currently live in Massachusetts, Mike in Fairhaven and Derek in Marshfield.”
Richards said the idea for the Irish Comedy Tour was born back around St. Patrick’s Day in 2005, when a friend who owned a theater in Florida asked him if he could “get some guys together and do a show.”
“I threw something together haphazardly, but we didn’t have a guitar component to the show. Because people loved what we did, I knew we had something that we could develop more and move forward with. But, I didn’t want the show to be just stand-up….I wanted a supporting act to make it more like a party,” said Richards.
“When traveling, after shows I would always go to an Irish pub. You know what you’re going to get there….a guy in the back playing music and inappropriate jokes being told. And it was that cool vibe and energy from an Irish pub that I wanted to bring into the theater,” he added.
The result was an R-rated show.
“We have adult content and language that is not for kids. People who are 18 and under just can’t relate to me. I’m 45 and Mike is 42, so the things we joke about and the comments we make are for our demographics,” said Richards.
“Mike has kids and talks about being the youngest of nine in an Irish Catholic family, and what it’s like now to experience what his parents went through raising him. Mike is five feet, six inches tall and bald….he’s high energy like a little tornado and comes out in a kilt,” he added.
Richards said that Keane begins the show with traditional Irish pub dining songs and “throws in a few jokes to get the crowd fired up.” The comedian is up next, followed by more songs from Keane and then McCarthy’s shtick, before all three appear on stage for the finale.
A regular on the Armed Forces entertainment tours, Richards was featured in Newsweek, Not Quite Prime Time, for taking part in one of the first comedy shows post 9/11 at Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His most recent military tour took him to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Dijbouti, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
“My father served in the Navy and my grandfather was in the Army after he came over here, and I have respect for what they do. It’s a job I don’t want. But one of the biggest rewards is to be able to go over there and perform for the armed forces….to give them a slice of home. One performance was actually held in a parking lot and I had no microphone. They sat there on the concrete in 85 degree weather to hear my jokes. You just won’t find a more captive and appreciative audience,” said Richards.
The irreverent trio, who released a DVD titled “Dublin’ Over,” has performed at venues across the United States and Canada, including B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York City, Showcase Live in Foxboro, and major Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos. Additionally, Richards has two live compact discs called “Sensitivity Training” and “Who’s Your Daddy?”