Al Porter: 'It's become aren't I a f**king mess? And let's all laugh about it'

Irish Daily Mirror

05-05-2025

'It's not about being Al Porter, the big success, look at me in my shiny suit. It's become more about aren't I a f**king mess? And let's all laugh about it.'
Al Porter is back, and he believes he's more relatable and funnier than ever with his new stand-up show Algorithm that debuts this August. A play on how we are all addicted to our phones and the tailored content they feed us, this show will resonate with any twenty or thirty-something living in their parents' box room or forking out €1k a month for a windowless shed.
'It is literally a snapshot of my life now as a 32-year-old,' Al says. 'I'm in a pretty common 32-year-old's position, which is living with a partner or a boyfriend and two housemates in a windowless submarine in the middle of town.
'And trying to make rent and then my friends are getting married, and then it's like, am I supposed to get married? 'Some of the other comedians in Ireland who are playing Vicar Street are doing really well in life, but I'm on a big stage and I am very much in the same boat as the audience.'
The Dubliners last stand-up show A Work In Progress came after his six-year hiatus when he fell from grace of being Ireland's brightest new star selling out theatres and popping up everywhere on TV and radio. He was embroiled in controversy after a sexual assault claim was made against him to Gardaí, but it was later withdrawn by the DPP.
His first show back focused on 'cancel culture versus consequence culture', his recovery from alcohol, and how he got through the darkest times of his life. But, Al says he's ready to push on and enjoy the little things in life that make it funny, and that's exactly what Algorithm is about.
He draws a lot of inspiration from his childhood in Tallaght, where he was the flamboyant child that wore a suit to sport's day and spoke back to any kid that tried to tease him. The comedian said: 'I was scrawny, I was pale, I was limp. I wasn't sporty. But if you were confident, you didn't get slagged.
"When I was 12 I remember kids being like 'You are gay' And I was like, 'Who told you? Your dad? Cause I was with him last night!' So having audacity and being a bit of a peacock. If you were gonna be different, you have to show people that you didn't give a f*ck.'
Al believes he can be more himself now, and tell jokes that he wouldn't have before, since he's not connected to a radio or TV station. He said: ' I'm not a part of the establishment, I'm not kind of holding out hope that I'll get on TV or radio, so I've never been more of just one of the normal people.
"I don't have to give a f*ck about sponsors or producers or anything like that. So I can talk about anything I want. I even have jokes about Ryan Tubridy. I was talking about me losing weight, so I was like 'Six years of bad press and the weight will just fall off you'. And then I said, 'You know, Tubridy almost disappeared''.
Al is writing a play inspired by his working-class family, called The Kavanaghs. It's about a gay man who lives in his family home with his partner and they are all trying to leave to catch a flight for a wedding in Germany.
His problem? It's a little more than just inspired by his family, it is his family. The Tallaght man explained: 'The dad is an army sergeant and the mother is a parish secretary.
' They're going to a German wedding because my brother married a German girl. I always say that he was on Tinder and he swiped too far right. I also always joke that it's great to have a German in the family because it's just another person who doesn't like to talk about the past as much as me.'
While the comedian is keen to move on with his life, he believes his fall from such a high pedestal has made him much more relatable, and also funnier. He said: 'I find my shows are funnier now because I've gone through stuff that is more relatable to people.
"I have funny stories about AA, like AA will put your f**king problems in perspective. When you're sitting there feeling bad for yourself, thinking 'I could have been the next host of the Late Late Show' and then someone stands up and is like, 'It's been 10 years since I ran over me mother-in-law.
'So, being somebody who's struggling to make their rent, being somebody who's in AA, being somebody who's failed publicly and is trying again, all that stuff makes you more normal and funnier.'