Arts Week with Judy Murphy

We’ve always had a great following in Galway,” says comedian Pat Shortt, who with his daughter Faye, will be back in the city’s Town Hall Theatre next week to perform their latest show, Shortt Stuff.

They were originally scheduled for one show, but that sold out so quickly they added a second, having held an extra date just in case.

Pat has been a familiar face on stage in Galway since the late 1980s, when he and Jon Kenny first began performing here as D’Unbelievables.

In 1998, Druid’s Artistic Director Garry Hynes cast them as the warring brothers, Coleman and Valene, for a touring production of Martin McDonagh’s play, The Lonesome West.

Through that, Pat formed a friendship with Martin and his brother, John, also a writer.

However, it was talent rather than friendship that won him roles in several other of Martin’s plays, including The Cripple of Inishmaan in London and A Skull in Connemara in Galway and Dublin with Decadent Theatre.

Most recently, he appeared in Martin’s film, The Banshees of Inisherin, having previously been cast in John’s films The Guard and Calvary.

Pat, whose credits include creating and starring in the RTÉ series Killanaskully, had shown his range as a serious screen actor in the 2007 film Garage, playing the lead role of Josie.

While he’s a man of many talents, with several film projects in the pipeline currently, live comedy is his greatest passion.

“My first love is on stage, doing comedy in front of a live audience and the reaction coming back to you. I love a straight play too. You use different skills as an actor to pull off different things.”

Pat’s partnership with Faye began during Covid.

She had studied drama at Dublin’s Gaiety School of Acting and from there, went on to train in film at the Bow Street Academy.

Then, as she was about to graduate from there and move to London to pursue her career, Covid hit.

It was a tough time for people in entertainment, Pat says, expressing his admiration for a musician friend who, when unable to tour, went back to work in the local supermarket to provide for his family.

Pictured: Pat and Faye whose show went down a treat in Australia and New Zealand. ‘We slowed it down, so the jokes could land,’ says Pat.