 Having failed to
realise his childhood dream of becoming a Civil Engineer, Kevin Hayes fell back on comedy to earn
a crust. Since then he has peddled his wares around the comedy world from Melbourne to San
Francisco and from Derry to Dubai, telling jokes and gazing longingly at the buildings.
His TV credits include 'Live at
Jongleurs' (ITV), 'The Comedy Store' (Channel 5) and 'The Stand Up Show', 'Everyman' and 'The
Empire Laughs Back' on BBC 1. He also contributes a column to The Irish Post, the largest Irish
newspaper in Britain.
In 1995 he was part of 'Young,
Gifted and Green'; The Best of Irish Comedy' which had a sell-out run at that year's Edinburgh
Fringe, going on to tour Australia the following year. In 1998 he took his first solo show to the
Fringe. 'Beyond The Pale - A Comedy of Irish History', a comic look at the catalogue of invasion,
famine and religious persecution that is Irelands past, received rave reviews (see below).
He made his Radio 4 debut as a
panellist and writer on 'The Unauthorised Biography of the United Kingdom'; a comedy series based
around the issue of Devolution, which was broadcast in June 1999, and the follow-up 'The
Unauthorised Biography of the Last Millennium'. He also wrote 'A Potted History of the Third
Millennium' which was performed by Mark Steel and was broadcast on Radio 4 on December 31st, 1999.
In 1999, Kevin returned to
Edinburgh with a new one-man show, 'Beyond The Pope'. Essentially an 'A to Z' of religious belief,
the show sought to enlighten its audience on the finer points of doctrinal theory such as the
theological divide that separates the Seventh Day Adventists from the Doris Day Fundamentalists
and to explain the true role of shadowy groups like the Christian Brothers (the paramilitary wing
of the Catholic Church).
In 2001, he was back at the festival with his latest solo show 'The Devil's Drop - A Brief
History of Alcohol' (see reviews below). A radio version of the show was broadcast on Radio 4 on
Christmas Day, 2001.
REVIEWS
'Headlining
the night is Kevin Hayes. His set is a very thoughtful and thought-provoking 20 minutes of
perfectly honed stand-up, and would be worth the ticket price alone.
Hayes has a more subtle brand
of humour and a gift for getting the audience eating out of his hand. Then his outrageous jokes
jump up and headbutt you. He is insightful, intelligent, and incredibly funny. It's all served up
with a dose of political satire as he talks about things that shouldn't be funny but it's a relief
when they are' THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS
'The best thing about Kevin
Hayes is that his jokes are really funny, something which some comics think is not as important as
being clever. Hayes is clever too and his best material is a mixture of surrealism and satire. He
handles religion and politics with a light but incisive touch' THE STAGE
'This man is gold!' THE
SCOTSMAN
'Here is a great Irish comic.
His dry, smooth wit is wondrous' THE IRISH TIMES
'Some of the finest and most
intelligent comedy I have seen on this or any other Fringe' 'DB' MAGAZINE, ADELAIDE
'Kevin Hayes is the stand-up
comedian for people who thought they didn't like stand-up comedy' SCOT FM
'A fine comic. Intelligent and
incisive yet still amenable ' THE GUARDIAN
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