Colin Murphy
Went to art college, graduated in 1990 with BA in Design.
Did various jobs, laboratory technician, door to door
salesman, factory work, painter and decorator, labourer,
window cleaner, dish washer then lectured part time for
four years in graphic design and worked as an illustrator
for magazines like Elle etc. Filled in for a sick friend
who was supposed to be doing improv at the Irish Student
Drama Awards in 1991 and won. Fell into acting with Sightlines
Theatre Company in Belfast. Performed in various productions
including Road by Jim Cartwright and Twelfth Night brought
a production of Dogman by Mikhail Bulgakov to Edinburgh
Fringe in 1994 where I played a dog in a ginger body wig,
eating my own testicles on stage every night for three
weeks. Started doing stand-up in 1992 in Belfast. Did
first Edinburgh in 1995 with Alternative Ulster. Returned
in 1997 to do Young Gifted and Green and then first solo
show in 1999. Followed that with sell out runs in 2000,
2001, 2003 and 2005. Have played New York, Boston, Montreal,
Melbourne, Hong Kong, Prague, Brussels, Antwerp, Singapore,
Paris, Milan and Helsinki where I performed the first
ever English language comedy gig in Finland. Not many
people can say that! Married with two children living
in Belfast.
Television The Panel (RTE) five series, The Blame Game
(BBC) two series, Blizzard of Odd (RTE) five series,
Colin Murphy’s Ad Fads (BBC) Colin Murphy’s
TV Fads (BBC), X-it File (RTE) X-it Poll (RTE), Elvis
Has Left The Building (BBC) two series, The Unbelievable
Truth (RTE) Miriam (RTE) – Chat show as guest,
Kelly (UTV) Chat show as guest, Just For Laughs 2003
and 2006 (RTE) Liffey Laughs (RTE) This Is Ireland (BBC)
All New Comedy Store (Five & Paramount) Comic Asides
2 (BBC) Hey Hey It..s Saturday (Channel 7 Australia)
The Stand Up Show (BBC) three series, Don’t Shoot
the Messenger (Paramount),@Last TV (RTE), The Return
of the Empire (BBC), GAS (C4) – Stand-up appearance,
Something for the Weekend (BBC),
Acting TV Holy Cross (BBC/RTE) – Drama. Ciderpunks
(Channel 4 / fourmations) Various roles, Divorcing Jack
(Scala Films) Role of Jack, The Most Fertile Man In
Ireland Role of Frank. Eureka Street (BBC) – Drama.
Big Bad World (ITV) – Drama. People Like Us (BBC)
– two episodes, The Bank Manager and The Actor,
I Fought The Law (BBC) – Sit com
Radio Hanging From The Scaffold (BBC Radio 4) Drama.
Various roles, Final Vinyl (BBC Radio Ulster) Sit com,
The O’Show (BBC Radio 4) Sketch show writer and
performer.
Writing Red Isuzu a short story for Shenanigans published
by Sceptre.
Voice Over Top Up card radio campaign McConnells.
Diet Coke TV and radio campaign Tortoise for McCann
Erikson.
Childrens Storybook documentary for Animo and RTE.
Reviews
He explains why wasps should be used in crowd control.
He knows what goes through a sprinter’s mind after
six seconds. From Liverpool to Queensland, Murphy brings
out the best in all of us. THREE WEEKS
The Belfast comedian even sent the Perrier judges away
chuckling. A natural performer, superb mimic and proof
that straight stand-up is still hard to beat. DAILY
EXPRESS (Fringe Top Ten)
He is distinguishably good.. His delivery is immaculate,
ultra-fast but never unintelligible. More infectiously,
he has a knack of making each member of the audience
feel like a friend, delivering pin-sharp observations
in the form of sharedconfidences..Hilarious, although
his mime piece illustrating an English person having
sex could do untold damage to the nation’s sexual
health. THE GUARDIAN (Dave Simpson)
Proving that swearing is both big and clever, Murphy
paces the stage with great confidence in his material.
With superb stage presence and upbeat enthusiasm, the
show is a great presentation of all that is great and
good in stand-up comedy.
EVENING NEWS (Sharon Cribbin)
Deep indeed is the joy to find a man content to go
on stage armed with nothing more than a microphone and
a wickedly sharp sense of humour. Perrier judges visited
lately and left impressed. You will be too. DAILY EXPRESS
(Graham Caldwell)
Sold out after rave reviews, this virtuoso of the F
word, who gleefully explains that swearing is just a
way of life to the Irish and then proceeds to demonstrate
his extensive repertoire. Murphy does a damn good impression
of a hard-edged comedian, the twinkle in his eye somehow
as threatening as any manner of extremist Ulster spokesmen,
and obviating the need to bully the audience. As an
aggressive charmer, he’s unlikely to be bettered
this year. THE INDEPENDENT (Steve Jelbert)
Do not leave Edinburgh without hearing Colin Murphy
explain the importance of word order when using the
word fxxxing, or listening to him decline the related
verb. Colin Murphy has a laugh-per-minute rating to
which many higher-profile comics can only aspire. He
is endlessly, genuinely, extremely funny. See it now
because it is hard to believe he could get much better.
THE SCOTSMAN (Kate Copstick)
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