“The tour started in Australia so taking it across the world and then bring it home and show everybody what I’ve been up to last year is always good fun”
One of Northern Ireland’s most popular comedians is back from Down Under and taking his new tour on the road across the country.
Whether you know him from stand-up, podcasts or online skits, Micky Bartlett’s quick wit, hilarious quips and charm have skyrocketed him to the top of the local industry.
Kicking off his new show ‘Rocket’ later this month, fans can expect his “best hour of comedy yet” – sharing his thoughts on the modern world and secrets that most people wouldn’t tell their therapist.
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Ahead of the tour starting on September 20 in Armagh, Micky chatted to Belfast Live about the new show, getting back on the road in Northern Ireland and his upcoming role in the new series of Blue Lights.
Micky said: “I’m going to be 40 in about a year and a bit and I’m sh***** myself, so this show it just bits and pieces about the things I thought I would be able to do by the time I was 40 – like fix things and drill a hole in the wall, and I can’t.
“It’s also the usual sort of life stuff too, like relationships and the whole spectrum”.
After a sell-out international tour and recently returning from Australia, Micky is ready to be back in front of local audiences for the rest of the year.
“It starts in Armagh and that’s always a good place to start as it’s my home county. But I am also really looking forward to getting up to Derry as well and over to Glasgow and Liverpool, which we are we’re trying to get booked in as well,” he said.
“The show itself I’m really proud of- the tour started in Australia so being able to take it across the world and then bring it home and show everybody what I’ve been up to last year is always good fun.”
No stranger to the screen, appearing in comedy series Soft Border Patrol and Chancers, the funnyman is stepping into the world of serious drama with a cameo in the new series of BBC cop drama Blue Lights.
“It’s only a very small part but it was odd to find yourself trying to be a serious actor – even being there with the amount of crew that are standing around and the pressure of thinking all these people want to go home to bed because it was 2am we were filming.
“You’re like ‘if I mess this up and we have to restart this whole thing and people are going to hate me’ so the pressure on that was a wee bit strange.
“Also, I’m used to playing to a live audience as well, so even just doing things where there’s no one there laughing or reacting instantly to what you’re doing a wee bit odd, but it was fun.
“It was a great experience and if the writers for the new series are looking anyone else, I am available most weekdays,” Micky laughed.
Putting his drama degree to good use, he also joked that he wanted to let Steven Spielberg know that if he wants to reach out after his upcoming TV appearance, he is only a phone call away.
On the explosion of the comedy scene over the past few years and Northern Irish comedians putting our local humour on the map, Micky said it has been “a long time coming”.
He continued: “We obviously had Paddy Key blow up and that was the only major export from Northern Ireland for a long time and I always felt like when I started, there was nobody was really watching anyone here.
“I think it kind of benefited us in the long term because, in terms of comedy, we weren’t all running after the same couple of panel show gigs and it meant then that all the comedians you see that are doing well here have very different voices and very different styles.
“It feels like we have very natural and very honest comedy here.”
A major part of the success of the local industry has been podcasting making comedians more accessible than ever, and Micky’s own podcasts, Deckchair & Yumz and LazyBoyz, have expanded his fan base even further.
“It’s great for stand up because, first of all, the audience already know who you are so you don’t really have to spend much time getting them used to things,” he explained.
“But you also just have all these new friends you’ve never met before.”
For anyone planning on heading down to any of the tour dates, expect cheeky humour Micky is known for and some serious laughs.
“I think for the tours especially, I always look at my stand-up shows like this is a safe space for us all to say bad words,” he joked.
“I don’t necessarily think I do anything offensive, but it is a little bit dirty – a little bit raunchy, if you want to say that!”
To find out more about tour dates and where to get tickets, see here
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