Flexing A Different Muscle

Tara!

t’s a long way from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the, eh, grey stones of Greystones, but, hey, you get the distinct impression that Tara Calihman likes a challenge.

How else to explain a 4,435-mile flight to a new land, with a young kid attached to your hip and one of the first decisions on Planet Éire is, hey, think I’ll do some stand-up…?

Of course, anyone who’s ever stood up in front of an audience in the high hope of making them laugh deserves our admiration. And, for the first five minutes of their set, our empathy too. 

Making her adopted hometown debut this Thursday at The Whale, young Tara is surprisingly breezy about the whole standing-emotionally-naked-in-front-of-neighbours affair when we meet up at Café Grey this evening. The many years of stand-up back in the States may have something to do with that calmness in the face of a virgin home crowd, of course, but then, it also might have something to do with Tara being too busy to worry about such matters. There’s a sitcom in the works. There’s a day-job to look after. And there’s a kid to check in on every now and then.

Having tentatively stepped onto The Whale stage back in March, for A Night Of Female Voices, this Thursday, it’s all about making that stage her own. And making us all laugh. Playing support to Tommy Tiernan favourite Julie Jay, Tara is clearly ready for her Greystones close-up.

The good thing is, she’s road-tested all her material with the toughest audience Tara could find – her eight-year-old son…

You can find out more about Ms Caliman right here, find out more about Thursday’s show alongside Julie Jay here, and get the early word on next year’s A Night Of Female Voices here.