Syrian born Tyrone comedian reflects on recent success

FOLLOWING the incredible success of having recently sold-out his first ever headlining show in the Craic Theatre, Coalisland, popular Tyrone comedian Talal Jomar is set to appear at this year’s Dungannon Comedy Festival for a third consecutive year.

A native of Damascus, Syria, the 35-year-old comedian moved to Tyrone with his family when he was just five-years-old.

Reflecting on the recent success of his first sold-out headlining performance, the Moy man said he was overjoyed.

“It was my first solo show and I honestly did not think it would have sold out,” he said.

“I couldn’t believe it, and the fact that it went so well was a bonus – I’m delighted!”

Now set to perform at this year’s Dungannon Comedy Festival for a third time, Talal shared his excitement ahead of the event.

“This will be my third year performing at the festival,” he said. “It’s such a great venue that, over the years, has welcomed some of the biggest names in local comedy.”

This year, Talal will take to the stage with fellow funny men Mark McCarney, Mickey Bartlett and Conor Keys.

“It’s always a good night, and with it happening on the bank holiday weekend too, that should be good fun!” he said. “Being relatively new to the comedy scene, to be gigging with boys like that who I always looked up to locally has been great.

“I honestly didn’t think it would have happened so soon.”

Reflecting on his early life and his recent journey into comedy, Talal explained that his mother, who is originally from Benburb, met his father, who is from Damascus, when she moved to Syria.

“They met in Syria and decided to move to Tyrone in June of 1995,” he described. “I was only five-years-old at the time, so I’ve pretty much lived here my whole life, but one thing is for certain – the name and accent don’t match!”

Speaking of his early interests in comedy, Talal said he always enjoyed making people laugh.

“I was always a huge comedy fan, and whilst I wasn’t necessarily a bad pupil at school, I did enjoy carrying on and making people laugh,” he mused. “Stand-up was something I had often thought about trying but, living in a rural area, I never really knew how to get things going until a local bar in the Moy started running a comedy night a few years ago.

“I decided to give it a shot, it went really well and I haven’t looked back since.

“It was something that I always to do because growing up around Moy, if you’re not playing football, you’re driving a tractor, so it was great to have an opportunity to try something different and exciting.”

Talal said that about ’99 per-cent’ of his comedy material are true stories.

“I like to think of myself as a ‘clean comedian’ as I don’t swear too much on stage,” he said.

“However, 99 per-cent of my material are true stories with a few wee extra bits added here and there for the sake of laughs. However, I’m the sort of person that a lot of strange and random things seem to happen to, so it’s great to able to put a comedic spin on real life events.”

‘Tell you what’

Off the stage, Talal is showing no signs of slowing down, hosting his own podcast with friend and fellow comedian Sean McAleavey, as well as a comedy club in Moy with comedian Sean Hegarty.

“The podcast is called ‘TELL YOU WHAT’,” said Talal. “It’s very sports-orientated. It’s our take on sport with a bit of comical commentary and general discussions about what we’ve been up to that week – a sports/comedy podcast really.

“Sean Hegarty and I also run PB’s Comedy Club in Moy,” he continued.

“There’s always something on the horizon there with plenty of great comedians performing regularly, and there’s always room for any newcomers who want to give a five minute slot a go!”

Having shared the stage with some the North’s finest comedians including Colin Murphy, Tim McGarry and Paddy McDonnell, Talal concluded by reflecting on his greatest achievement to date.

“I regularly perform at Lavery’s Comedy Club in Belfast, so I’m always sharing the stage with great comedians, however, for me personally, supporting Shane Todd in the Grand Opera House in Belfast is, to this day, still one of the greatest thing’s I’ve ever done,” he concluded.

l You can catch Talal Jomar
performing live at Dungannon Comedy Festival this Saturday (May 3). Tickets are available at: dungannon.ticketsolve.com
or via telephone on 02881128600.