Belfast comedian Paddy McDonnell to star in his first one-man theatre show this Christmas

West Belfast comedy legend Paddy McDonnell is swapping the stand-up stage for the theatre as he performs his first one-man show.

Rebel Without a Claus is a new Christmas comedy written and performed by Paddy for Brassneck Theatre Company and will run from December 12-22 at the Roddy McCorley Heritage Centre.

Starting out his career in 2011, Paddy has gone on to support big acts like Des Bishop and Ardal O’Hanlon and toured his own shows at venues such as the Ulster Hall and SSE Arena.

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A description for Rebel Without a Claud reads: "‘Twas the night before Christmas and all round the house, not a creature was stirring, not even…Big Firestick McCann.

"He’s stuck in custody up at the Antrim Crime Suite for a crime he didn’t commit (well…according to him anyway!)

"Will our rebel get out in time to spend Christmas with his family? Can he convince the peelers that he’s actually an innocent man?? Or has Firestick McCann messed up big style this year?"

Paddy told Belfast Live he is excited to branch out from stand-up and show a new side to himself as he takes to the stage for the Christmas production.

"I've been going to watch Brassneck plays for about 18 years now, and I always love one-man shows, and the shows they've put on. A few years ago, I worked with Brassneck briefly, and I decided that I wanted to write a one-man play so I spoke to [Artistic Director] Tony Devlin about it and we decided to do it.

"This is my first crack at writing a play and writing a one-man play! I really love Tony's style, how he brings the story across and directs it, so it's always been a dream of mine to get involved in that.

"I'm excited, even though it's a far distance from stand-up that I normally do.

"So I'm coming out of my comfort zone but really looking forward to getting in there and letting people see that there's more to me than just stand-up comedy."

Find out more about Rebel Without a Claus here

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