Comedian Paddy Raff is kicking off 2022 with a brand new series of his hit sketch show, which is attracting a growing legion of fans across Ireland and beyond.
Since starting out on the comedy circuit four years ago, Paddy, 37, has risen through the ranks to become one of Northern Ireland's most celebrated comics - selling out numerous arena shows and frequently going viral with his brilliantly relatable sketches.
He's also found himself emerge as something of a 'lockdown hero' during the Covid pandemic, with his pitch-perfect commentary on life-under-quarantine attracting an international audience, as well as a local one.
"It weird that that set of circumstances gave me a lot more time to be even more creative and do more output than pre-pandemic when I was mixing gigging with online content," Paddy told Belfast Live.
Having been a call centre trainer for six years after leaving college, then a full-time wedding musician for 10 years as well as a carer, Paddy tried stand-up comedy for the first time at an open-mic night in March 2018.
He quickly became a local sensation both on the stand-up circuit and further afield online, creating countless viral observational and character-based sketches on his PaddyRaffComedy social media platforms, racking up millions of views and a huge following across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube.
"Within the first month of lockdown I had decided to pull together all the online sketches and even without them all, there was still 40 minutes of material as a long video on YouTube. I remember thinking 'that's basically an episode of a show' and it made me think that I could do it," he added.
Paddy's unprecedented level of success on the local stand-up scene soon saw him become the biggest selling comedian in Northern Ireland, within two years of taking to the stage selling out dozens of shows in some of NI’s most prestigious venues including the SSE Arena and Ulster Hall, alongside dates at London's Museum of Comedy.
As a reward for his much-loved style of humour, BBC Northern Ireland commissioned him to create a 30-minute pilot sketch show during lockdown.
‘The Paddy Raff Show’ was first broadcast on BBC One NI in July 2020, which was nominated for an RTS Award. BBC NI then commissioned a Christmas Special in 2020 and the first series aired in February 2021.
"We pitched the show to the BBC who luckily took it up and the pilot went on to win the Celtic Media Festival award for Best Comedy. We're hoping to land a few more nominations for series one as well when those come around again," Paddy said.
"Either way it has been really fun to have a project to work on during lockdown and the honour of being allowed to be out there and making something at a time when it was really tough for everybody.
"The messages I have received are always been really lovely from people saying my online videos and the TV series helped to get them through lockdown.
"I'm even getting messages from people in England with no connection to Northern Ireland who have caught the show on the BBC iPlayer and really liked it," he added.
Following another hugely successful Christmas special last December, dad-of-two Paddy, who is married to Kim, 38, returns to BBC Northern Ireland next week with a new four-part series to get us through the long winter evenings.
The award winning comedian’s comical sketches and observations on family life have created characters many viewers recognise from their own social circles.
"I toured England just before Christmas so it's nice to find that the stuff is trickling out to a wider audience, which I hope to build on with series two," Paddy added.
"A lot of the themes are a bit more universal as opposed to very Northern Irish so it's a wee bit more relatable this time around."
Viewers can expect more mirth and mayhem from familiar faces like Father Pat, Granny Raff and Malone Road’s most talked about resident Nigel who is looking for love and manages to grab himself a date with an LA model.
Meanwhile newcomer Kara-Lynne was furloughed during lockdown and is working hard to carve out a new career. In episode one she lands her dream job in a unique pop up restaurant that calls on her many skills as a former flight attendant.
Other new characters include newsreader Henry Campbell and DJ Morgan K, while BBC journalist and presenter Holly Hamilton also makes a special guest appearance on one of Nigel's 'Chit' Shows.
"The main newcomer is Kara-Lynne, one of those characters that started online, as they tend to do, as a wee throwaway but who then catches with the public and you feel like you want to see more of them," Paddy explained.
"She came about during the vaccine roll-out where I thought it was funny that people were being called forward in groups, a bit like in the airport.
"The idea of a furloughed cabin crew staff member calling people forward as if she was still working in the airport appealed to me so it was great to be able to recreate her on-screen for TV."
Once again Paddy’s own children - Ronan, 7, and four-year-old Clara - also take up starring roles throughout the series.
"They're great craic and love getting involved in filming the show," Paddy added.
"Ronan was mortally offended when I floated the idea of getting another child to play him in series two because of his school commitments. I saw his face and quickly realised that wasn't going to be an option - he was raging at me for even suggesting it!"
When asked if he has any personal favourites amongst the list of quirky characters, Paddy admits there's a favourite to write for (that's Nigel in case you hadn't guessed!) and another to film.
"I don't like filming Nigel as I hate having to wear the wigs and glasses because I'm so used to be being bald!" he laughed.
"So that means I like filming the scenes as myself and Fr Pat but that's just laziness. Despite that, the character I warm to most is Nigel but also Granny Raff and I've really enjoyed writing her scenes this time.
"Even when I meet people in the street, they tell me that their kids love Nigel and start quoting him to me. Kids seem to see Nigel as some sort of weird uncle who is just a bit of an eejit. They laugh their heads off when I slip into character and tell them to act their postcodes so he definitely resonates with most people!"
With his new series kicking off and Covid restrictions easing, Paddy is busy writing more material for more his new live show, Look Who's Raffing , at the SSE in September along with a few other TV projects in the pipeline.
The Paddy Raff Show, made by Nice One Productions, starts on Friday 28 January on BBC One Northern Ireland at 10.35pm and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
