A funny thing happened the well-known blasphemer and popular chat show guest, Tommy Tiernan, during this weekend's Murphy's Red Hot Festival in Cork. As he walked down the city's main drag, two men rushed towards him, pushed an envelope into his hand and rushed off.
Fearing the worst, given his previous brushes with religious fundamental groups, Tiernan gingerly opened the envelope only to find that it was a note from a local restaurant inviting him in for a free pizza.
It was Tiernan's first home gig since his Edinburgh success and he duly obliged by raising the roof of the Opera House on Saturday night with a series of comic rockets launched at organised religions. Very much the man of the moment, Tiernan would like it to be known that he's open to offers of free food in all towns and cities around the country.
A unique festival, and not just in terms of its size, Murphy's Red Hot is a 50/50 split of comedy and music. The former included Young Ones and Blackadder writer Ben Elton going back to his stand-up roots with a show that received the dreaded "mixed" reviews.
Father Ted star Ardal O'Hanlon premiered his new show to a far better response, while Have I Got News for You? star Paul Merton delighted all and sundry with his one-man show, which was an autobiographical account of his career to date.
While all these acts plied their trade in the Opera House, dozens of more comics from all around the world took over the pubs for some impromptu japery. Well-known television faces like Jeremy Hardy and Stewart Lee fared well while the gaggle of Irish comics parachuted in for the festival did similar. With over 40 city-centre venues offering entertainment of some sort, there was always something on somewhere.
By far the biggest crowd of the weekend was attracted by the English group, Ocean Colour Scene, who had 10,000 people jammed into the Grand Parade for their free open-air show on Saturday night. Reviled by critics but adored by their massive fan base (they sold more than one million albums), their first Cork gig was the weekend's highlight for many.
The rest of the music programme focused on the phenomenon of tribute bands with Sex Chocolate (a Hot Chocolate tribute), Hotel California (an Eagles tribute), Thin as Lizzy (a Thin Lizzy tribute) and Buffalo Soldier (a Bob Marley tribute), all doing the doppleganger thing to great effect.
Such was the success of the inaugural Red Hot Festival that the organisers now plan to bring it to Galway next month and to Dublin in November.
