Comedian Laura O’ Mahony on making yourself impossible to overlook

I am drawing a lot of inspiration lately from creative people who are forging their own path and making things happen for themselves, and comedian Laura O’ Mahony is a shining example of such a person. When we first met, Laura was an actor—she has since made the transition to comedian but there is a huge amount any creative person can learn from Laura about building a career for yourself.  Laura is a children’s television presenter on Body Brothers for RTE Junior, she was a member of sketch comedy troupe Cccahoots and made the comedy TV series The School with them, and before lockdown hit she was due to perform her new show “the people’s princess” to a full house at the Everyman theatre in Cork.  During the covid-19 lockdown, Laura made it her mission to entertain her followers and grow her audience on Instagram. She has some wonderful insights on making yourself unignorable and indispensable instead of being bitter about the gatekeepers not inviting you in. “You have to build it yourself. You have to make it so that people can’t actually overlook you. Because if they overlook you, they look demented.” Laura also shares what it’s like to be a woman on the comedy scene in Ireland and the work we all still clearly have to do. Laura tweeted recently: “To all who have suffered abuse and all those that are speaking out about the Irish comedy circuit. I see you. I hear you. I believe you. I am an ally and a friend here to help get those powerful voices heard. Silence no more. Enough is enough” Laura points to the systemic sexism that manifests in everything from casual “banter” and assumptions, to well intentioned but misguided efforts at ticking the gender parity box. She acknowledges where she herself has to do better, and calls on everyone to join her in doing their part in being more vocal in calling out sexism. I hope you will enjoy listening to our chat as much as I enjoyed recording it. I don’t think it would be possible to listen to Laura without coming away feeling inspired and ready to build yourself the creative career you have always wanted. Be sure and follow Laura on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauralolslots/ Laura is also on Twitter and you can check out comedy troupe Cccahoots via their website or Facebook page. And if you’d like to connect with me I’m on Twitter as Frankiep, and if you’re looking for a quick, easy and affordable professional actor’s website check out www.mysite.actor. If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you normally listen. And if you enjoyed this episode please share it.  Thank you for listening!