Late ‘n’ Live: Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh, 2009
Laugh Till It Hurts Comedy Gala 2013: Bloomsbury Theatre, London, 2013
Big Comedy Gala in aid of Macmillan Cancer: Venue 150 @ EICC, Edinburgh, 2013
Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of The Fringe: Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh, 2016
99 Club Comedy: Leicester Square, London, London, 2017
Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of The Fringe: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2017
Clapham Comedy Club: The Bread & Roses pub, Clapham, London, 2020
West End Comedy Club: Upstairs at The Covent Garden Social Club, Great Newport Street, London, 2022
Comedian Patrick Monahan has been an Edinburgh Festival Fringe favourite for years. I first saw him in 2009 as an act on Late ‘n’ Live – the showcase that takes place every night at the Fringe. The likeable North-East comedian was wildly energetic even in the early hours delivering tales of growing up in an Iranian / Irish household as well as the struggles of living as a non-drinking, non-smoking, non-drug-taking comic.
Monahan has appeared in many guest spots that I have seen at the Festival. He started his routine by going to the front row of the audience and gives members of the crowd big hugs as though they are long lost relatives. This has since become a staple of the act and he also liked to banter with the audience and created a high degree of warmth and laughter with the audience.
Monahan played the Clapham Comedy Club in October 2020. It was a shame that the Irish-Iranian comedian could not use his trademark hug on the audience due to the socially distancing rules but he more than made up for this with a blisteringly funny and enthusiastic set about his upbringing and career.
He also played the West End Comedy Club in London in June 2022, on stage with an hour of exceptionally funny new material. Working the crowd was a speciality and the laughs were constant. Monahan is a class act.