Ready for a roasting? Inside Belfast's standup scene

It’s the only place in the world where jokes about local councillors work. But is Belfast’s sharp-tongued comedy circuit becoming less hostile to outsiders?

Patrick Kielty’s first Belfast standup set won him a keg of beer. It was freshers’ week 1989 at Queen’s University and his housemates had nominated him for a talent competition. As well as the booze, he earned a termly gig on campus, but across Belfast comedy barely existed.

Until, that is, BBC producer Jackie Hamilton approached him with an idea: The Empire Laughs Back, the city’s first dedicated comedy night. “There was no scene, so we decided to make it,” Kielty says.

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