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March 12, 2010

Laugh, begorrah! Irish comedy comes to TC

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS

TRAVERSE CITY -- Just when you thought Traverse City couldn't get any funnier, along comes The Irish Comedy Tour.

The irreverent trio will take to the City Opera House stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, with plenty o' jokes about being Irish. Look for a few about the city's quirky St. Patrick's Day parade, which the comics are expected to take part in earlier in the day.

The Irish holiday can be a source of amusement for Derek Richards, the tour's native Detroiter and a third-generation Irish-American.

"One of the funniest things to me is the St. Patrick's Day parade in Detroit," Richards said. "With all respect, there's nothing more humorous to me than seeing African-Americans dressed up as leprechauns."

Besides Richards, The Irish Comedy Tour includes Boston-born Mike McCarthy and New Yorker Jim Paquette. McCarthy is a Comedy Central and Showtime alum who plays on society's uptight attitudes; Paquette is a guitarist and dueling piano performer with three CDs including "The Cougar Bar."

Like Richards, they're of Irish descent -- which in itself is fodder for some jokes.

"My grandparents came from Ireland looking for greener pastures and, of course, they came to Detroit," Richards said.

A graduate of Romeo High School -- "Yes, Kid Rock went there and yes, I graduated with his sister" -- Richards grew up listening to his father and grandfather trade dirty jokes in the family's basement.

The experience became the stepping stone to a comedy career spiced with tales about everything from Richards' blue-collar upbringing, his mom's dog and the holidays, to dating an exotic dancer, exercise, computers and life on the road.

Now he's a radio personality who has been heard on Sirius and XM satellite radio, "The Bob & Tom Show" and The Weather Channel's Top 10. He's also the originator of The Irish Comedy Tour, which came together in 2006.

"The idea was to take an Irish pub and a comedy show and put them in a food processor," said Richards, whose act is sandwiched between classic Irish drinking songs and original comedy songs by Paquette and jokes about society's most sensitive topics by McCarthy.

The result is the 2009 DVD "Dublin' Over" and an adult show that leaves audiences howling, said City Opera House General Manager Diana Barrie.

"They're hilarious," Barrie said. "There's a clip online of a lady in one audience; she hit her face on the chair in front of her and ended up with a bloody nose."

The show has toured everywhere from the Kewadin Casino to the Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas. Richards' only regret is that his father and grandfather didn't live to see it.

"I wish they could have seen the show as the by-product of the fun times we shared together," he said.

Reserved seat tickets for the Traverse City show are $20 at 941-8082 or online at www.cityoperahouse.org and www.treatickets.com.

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