Offaly man Neil Delamere brought his razor-sharp wit and side-splitting quips to a sell-out audience at NUI Galway this month as part of the SU’s Mental Health Week. In an hour-long set which victimised Mayo men, Engineers, mature students and a Columbian woman whom he christened Miss Escobar; Delamere delivered a mix of lightening one-liners and attention grabbing anecdotes that left the crowd in stitches.

Chatting after the gig, Delamere was clearly still pumping with post-show adrenaline. With a list of television credentials including The Panel, The Blame Game, Republic of Telly, Neil Delamere's Just for Laughs, and a weekly radio show under his belt, nothing beats the buzz of a live audience for this stand-up fanatic.

“You know if I have a joke about a pink elephant I just do the joke about a pink elephant. On telly you go well, where are we going to get a pink elephant at this hour? Can we even get a pink elephant? Can we get a normal elephant and paint it pink? Can we green screen an elephant in? Do we really need a pink elephant, would a hippo do? Whereas the only thing that limits you in stand-up is the words you can think of. So nothing really limits you”.

He speaks a mile a minute, certainly not limited by words. But where did it all begin? Rewinding a little, Delamere recalls own his childhood growing up in Edenderry, Co. Offaly.

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