Luke McGibbon: A Decade At The Pav, Worst Ever Gigs & Future Goals!

Having started gigging in 2011 admittedly only seeking to be a good comic, Luke established himself as that within a couple of years before he "rotted for the guts of a decade" as he performed without actively seeking out new gigs or writing new material.

However, lockdown is when it started to fall into place more for Luke, getting new jobs which provided more free time to dedicate to his comedy career which is starting to grow more each year.

Luke juggles his comedy career alongside his counselling career. Currently he provides sessional work for a charity that helps take people off NHS waiting lists & provides treatment; whilst also simultaneously working on a southern suicide helpline.

It's safe to say you would need a few laughs in your spare time after quite an intense job let alone be the one providing jokes for others alongside it.

The 'Pav' Pavilion bar in Belfast is a longstanding & almost traditional gateway for many comics within the NI scene to be discovered & progress from. Starting back in 2008 it's been in the hands of a few people including Alan Irwin who I interviewed recently but it's under Luke's stewardship where it has progressed & established itself over the last decade.

"I think each person had given it something different. Alan had run it for a year, gave it a real boost & had changed the branding of it. He really pumped a bit of life into it but a weekly gig takes your energy & greys your hair. I mean, Sean McAleavey's been running that gig at Maddens for a year & he's got some greys now."

"I didn't want to take over it but Alan was quitting & it was burning him out. There weren't any low level gigs at the time. Lavery's at the time was a mid level gig, Colin originally intended it to be a place somewhere between the Pav or the Empire but obviously Lavery's is arguably bigger. I took it over out of a sense of responsibility because if there wasn't a Pav there wouldn't have been an entry point for unestablished acts or a place to congregate for acts who weren't that good but need that sense of community."

I think that exactly states why gigs like the Monday night comedy at the Pavilion is crucial for the scene to keep progressing here in NI. Not only is Luke crucial in helping new acts be discovered & have an entry point into the ever-growing scene but also crucially helping those whom may feel somewhat segregated from society.

"Low level gigs are gathering places not just for people who are funny & want to do standup comedy but also the lost. People who are wanting to express themselves or frankly lonely; who don't feel like they have a voice perhaps. Which I kind of identify with I feel like that's the sort of teenager I felt like, felt kind of invisible so I feel if you run low level gigs you have a small responsibility to make sure you're doing more good than harm. So that means gentle feedback given with permission & forging relationships with people. There's a certain pastoral element to promoting a low level gig."

Despite running a weekly gig having it's fair share of grey hairs it doesn't look to have swayed Luke from running the gig, maybe he's looking for a second lifetime achievement award after the next decade?

Having ran the Pav for over a decade there isn't many acts on the NI scene in which Luke hasn't given an early opportunity to. However, not everyone is going to be the next Colin Geddis; it's safe to say Luke has seen his fair share of bad acts in his time.

"When I started I got a real laugh seeing people do badly the same way one might laugh watching Britains Got Talent or The X Factor at people who are absolutely certain they can sing but can't. It was a cruel laugh but as times gone on now what brings me more happiness is seeing people who originally aren't great keep plugging away at it & improving.

I always talk about my friend Ross Mitchell who's an amazing comedian & he had a few years in the early days when he was in the wilderness shall we say. Even now he's still improving as a comic I really love him, he's a joy to watch & know."

Haven spoken to Luke I already understand why & how he has ran the Pav for over a decade & more-so why the Pav needs someone like himself. I think its almost crucial to have the compassion & experience that Luke has to help nurture talent at their raw stage when starting out. I feel where Luke's counselling background would almost certainly come to the forefront here too.

"Some people genuinely suffer from delusions & sometimes I would have to gently go 'Aye the volume on these jokes weren't particularly loud' & you have to really gently ease them into reality & then when they do better you have to keep them grounded. You have to tell them 'that was a very well done five but you can't headline yet you have to do a very good ten now, then a very good fifteen'. You have to do it a few times before I feel it's safe to give them the headline.

"I find it life affirming, if they can improve then anyone can improve. I don't like the idea of inbuilt talent. If you watch someone like Mickey Bartlett, William Thompson, Colin Geddis or Diona you could be fooled into thinking they have funny bones they were born like this. There's  a certain amount of inbuilt talent but there's also a lot of putting in stage time or writing, growing as a person & performer.

What was the worst gig you saw hosting the Pav?

"He's still around but his first ever spot he was absolutely hammered, like incoherent. He was booked to do 10 minutes because the default was 7-10 minutes back then which was too long for someone doing their first spot. He was just babbling, half finished sentences & Ross actually told me to flash the light at him to let him know he's got to finish up. I was like he's still got 3 minutes left but Ross was correct to tell me to flash him because when I did flash him he just didn't see.

We tried quite a lot of things to get him off stage. We got the audience to applaud but he just kept standing there, we stood at the edge of the stage & told him to wrap up & he kept going. Eventually we had to turn off the mic, turn out the lights & put on the music & sort of quietly escort him off the stage. The only way was up for that guy, all he had to do was sober up & he was 10x better the next time I saw him."

Was there anyone you saw start out who you knew would go on to bigger things?

"Yeah, Mark McCarney did his first spot in the Pavilion & that was one of the best first spots I had seen.

I mean, a lot of people have a good first spot because some people bring their mates & a few people do that for a few gigs. If you bring your mates you've got a 99% chance of having a good first gig & a 1% chance of having the most painful first gig with witnesses who you love.

Mark didn't actually bring anyone if I remember correctly he really killed it all on his own steam. I feel I should've given him more spots at the start actually because he obviously has gone on to become something else. I was so obsessed with giving out spots fairly that would mean even if you were really good you would probably only get on once every month or two. I didn't give him nearly enough but you could tell he was great.

James McKegney I think I put him on on his first gig in the Pavilion & it was on a really bad night, everyone died on their hole & so did he. I feel sometimes the ability to be persistent & not give up is a gift, sometimes it's a curse but with him very much a gift. You can tell with him he's a funny boy & I think he knew he was a funny boy he didn't need that crowd's approval to figure it out."

How does it feel to know many of your peers feel you're the most underrated 

"Yenno I'd love more rating that sounds good but no that's really flattering. I love all these people & their respect means a lot to me because I respect them."

Who would you saw is underrated in the NI scene?

"There's a comedian in Ballymena called Paddy McGaughey & he's brilliant. He doesn't use the internet very much so its probably as famous as he's going to be which is a damn shame because I think he's fantastic. He has a very unusual way delivering jokes with a sort of culchie charm to it.

I like work horses, people who write a lot so anytime I see them I know I'll be seeing something new from them & connecting with them in a new way. Ciaran Franco, Jazmynne Sierra, Ross Mitchell I mentioned earlier; it's obviously affected by the fact that these people being my friends. Ronan Linskey is a really underrated comedian actually & Alan Irwin but I think he's getting more & more recognition, he won't be underrated for long.

Ronan & Alan are two of my best friends. I've been to both of their weddings & they will be to my funeral probably, that was a bit morbid wasn't it? Id sooner die than get married is apparently what I'm implying?

Speaking about people who've been improving, Heather Anderson has been on a roll for the last 7-8 months to get better & better; she's a real delight to watch. The same goes to the likes of Leanne Toland in Derry, god I'm just naming name after name.

There's some people who wouldn't necessarily be my style of comedy but I find them quite magnetic to watch like Sean McAleavey, I really enjoy watching him even though you wouldn't necessarily peg him to be the type of comedian I like to watch."

Who would you say is currently the best comedian in NI?

"For most of the twenty tens it was sort of a no contest it would be Mickey [Bartlett] but then for the past five years it's really been neck & neck between loads of them. Between Shane [Todd] & Mickey [Bartlett], Colin [Geddis] & William [Thompson] but then sometimes you'll be on the same line-up as all of them & somebody who wouldn't immediately pop into your head like Dave Elliott would just blow them all out of the water or Ciaran Bartlett or Diona. 

Sean Hegarty as well, there's not enough people talking about the 'Hegs', the undisputed one liner king of the moment. He should be bigger really.

What would be your favourite venue to perform at?

"It depends what you were doing I suppose. I don't find much joy doing the stuff I know works. So there's some venues like Lavery's or the Empire that I will be doing a set that I know 99% works so if you see me there I'll be doing a set that's somewhere between 6 months old to 10 years-nah there's only a few jokes that are from the start & I do them when I'm panicking because I know they work.

I find it a lot more fun doing new stuff & I do a lot of new stuff in places like The Black Box, there's a gig I run there called 'Best of Three', a gig my partner runs called 'Coven', a gig that Alan & Ronan run for new material called 'Kill Your Darlings' which is really good. Our colleague Frazer Robb runs one there too called 'Stoneface' it's where you get a single audience member & if they don't laugh the entirety of your set they get a tenner & if you make them laugh you get a tenner."

What's it like having your partner [Sarah Firby] involved in Comedy too?

"Sarah doesn't do standup anymore. She did a solo show as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival & it was her first hour & it was fucking brilliant & then she immediately retired which is smart but also infuriating as a promoter.

She never truly enjoyed it. The anxiety before the gig wasn't worth the fun of the gig. I think what's nice when I get back home from a gig I'm not boring the tits off her with how well everyone did. Whereas if she wasn't really into comedy & I came in & said Ross did really good tonight, Frazer did really good tonight & so on, passing on names for her to book & vice-versa it's nice to have a common ground to talk about.

Sometimes she'll help me edit some jokes. I run jokes past a lot different acts but I really think Sarah is basically a part of me. We've been together now 7 years so I feel like we are both different bits of the same mind so I do think Sarah is my favourite to run bits past; if were in a good mood, if we're not then there's no point because it will all be coloured by that.

So yeah it's nice to have that shared thing. I think we've only gigged not he same lineup a couple of times. One of them was in the Limelight years ago & it was just great but never again. She gets tempted every now & again but when she books herself she immediately feels all that anxiety again & then it's all gone."

Do you have a Dream Venue you'd like to play?

"I like to keep my dreams small & achievable but last year I'm going to say thanks to William Thompson but he'll hate me saying it because William is very meritocratic so if I ever say thanks about it he'll just say 'fuck up you earned it'. I'm going to say thanks anyways because last year I did support for him at the Ulster Hall which is a dream venue, it was nice to do such a massive room & to get a different feeling with the way laughter takes longer to reach you.

A dream venue in the future? I'd like to be able to fill up that Black Box room on my own steam but I don't know if that would be this year or the next; it depends if anything I put on the Internet takes off. So my dreams are pretty achievable the Black Box big room for one night."

What would be your worst ever gig?

"The Metro in Derry in 2013.

A friend of mine decided to put a gig on there but it was terribly organised, there wasn't any sort of fanfare about the event. It was free in so the crowd were already there & didn't know they were there for a comedy night because no one charged them at the door. They were there to watch a football match which had been turned off to put us on so they were just shouting for the entire time.

I lasted for about three minutes maybe. I don't have much patience to keep pressing on with people who aren't listening because if I leave I'm doing you a favour too, so it's a win for me to fuck up & fuck off. 

It was still a learning experience because there was a comedian from down south called Gary Lynch & we watched him from the back. He hopped on stage & he screamed his entire set at them, it was very much that Bill Burr in Philadelphia thing. Not just that he took his time, I've still never had the balls to try that at a gig like that they only happen once every now & again but it was a real learning experience watching him."

Winegums or Fruit Pastilles?

"Weekday Fruit Pastilles, weekend winegums. 

I will not explain it."

I must say interviewing Luke McGibbon has only reiterated everything I've heard from other comics in the scene. Quite possibly the nicest man in comedy? whilst also having the material & delivery to go along with it. Im definitely going to get myself to this mans gigs soon & you should too before he becomes the bigger name he is soon to be.

"Im happy where I am comedically, I'd like a little bit more of a following. Before I was satisfied being good I would like to be someone who is always doing new material; so when performing even my peers would be paying attention."

I feel to his credit Luke has started to build more of that online presence in recent months & one thing is for sure his fellow peers are paying attention as basically everyone I've interviewed has stated how they hope for him to get his break this year.

If you would like to see Luke perform here are some of his upcoming gigs:

March 15th - The Market Inn, Draperstown

March 22nd - Audacity Coffee, Belfast

Weekly gig on Mondays at the Pavilion Bar, Belfast