CPI Archive 2008: After battling illness and a crisis of style, Jon Kenny is back and ready for road. Andrew Hamilton chats to the Limerick comedian about about turning back to front for his new, stripped down show.
IT’S often said that life begins at 50. That along with a cake and an extra handful of grey-hair; the turning of the half-century brings with it a new sense of freedom. Like somewhere, somehow, a mystical reset button has been pushed and the past is wiped clean. The future becomes once again undetermined. In the Summer in 2000, with the d’Unbelievables clearing all before them, you might have thought that the future seemed anything but undetermined for Jon Kenny and Pat Shortt. Ongoing success seemed assured, as Ireland’s greatest comedy double act carved out their place in history. It was in those months however that Kenny was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma - and in a blinking, everything had changed. After battling through his illness, Kenny reemerged in an entertainments world that he no longer recognised and was forced to build again from scratch. The intervening years have seen him gain much critical acclaim as a theatre actor, musician and singer - but they also seen a more surprising change - the reinvention of his first love and the forging of a new comic talent. It’s been almost like starting from scratch, but I guess I’ve been in lucky in a lot of ways with this one. I wanted to take a lot of the stuff out of the set and just deal with myself,” said Kenny.
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