Cork's Laura O'Mahony: 'I love that I'm able to be with my kids'

Sometimes, I get a little itch to maybe do a play again. But the reality of that would be very hard. It isn’t an option for me to put the kids in childcare while I go off rehearsing..

Podcaster, stand-up comedian and actor, Laura O’Mahony, is in no doubt why she presents herself to audiences, despite being a bag of nerves at the beginning of a performance.

“I really just want to make people laugh,” says Laura, who will be taking part in the Cork Podcast Festival with her podcasting partner, Cork Olympian, Rob Heffernan.

“There is so much sad, serious stuff in the world. I always felt the need to find craic in places where you think there isn’t any. I want to make people happy because I think people struggle to be happy.”

The dynamic between Laura and Rob, who make up the Red Raw Podcast, is sparked by their very different backgrounds.

“Rob would always say that he’s a plasterer’s son from the flats in Togher who wasn’t very academic and tried to avoid homework in order to do athletics.

“My mom and dad are teachers. I was brought up in Glanmire and went to Scoil Oilibheir where my dad was the vice-principal.”

Despite their differences, Laura says she and Rob have similar approaches to life.

They are unusual in that straight podcasting pairs are often in a relationship together. Not these two.

“But we’re really good friends. We can air all our dirty laundry on the podcast. We have a friendship where we can say anything to each other and we won’t take offence.

“We often have a little fight and resolve it on the podcast.”

The duo met when they used to work on breakfast radio at Red FM. Laura says both she and Rob often had more interesting chats off-air, triggering the idea of doing a podcast.

“You’re very limited on radio as to what you can say. You can’t really be your full self. We kept saying we would do a podcast. Rob suddenly bought the equipment so we said, OK, we’re doing it now.”

Podcasts have become very common in recent years.

“There’s a lot of people writing books as well. I listen to loads of podcasts and they’re all different. People doing them are quite supportive of each other.

“It’s not like we’re pitted against each other like in radio.

“With acting, you’re also pitted against each other. With stand-up and podcasting, it’s more friendly and collegial. There’s space for us all. You just have to love what you’re talking about.”

And it’s all ad lib.

“Podcasting is like sitting down to have a chat with your friend. No subject is off the table.”

The Red Raw Podcast has over 500,000 listeners, says Laura.

“We have a wide audience in Ireland. And there’s an audience of Irish people abroad, nostalgic for home. We have just signed with Acast (a podcasting platform) and we’ll reach more people through that.”

Laura says that she and Rob have discussed body image “which is interesting in relation to a high performance sportsman and a chubby mother-of-three like me. We talk about family relationships and our concerns for our kids.”

The pair’s guests have included Keith Duffy, the Wiffen twins, Derval O’Rourke and Laura’s own mother.

At the moment, the podcast is Laura’s main focus.

“In a way, I’ve been on extended maternity leave since I had the children.”

Polly is nearly ten, Alfie is seven and Freddie is one year old.

“Sometimes, I get a little itch to maybe do a play again. But the realities of that would be very hard. It isn’t an option for me to put the kids in childcare while I go off rehearsing.”

Laura still gets to do some improvisation, including the improv panto as well as the murder mystery show at the Cork Arts Theatre.

“I feel really comfortable doing improv and stand-up. I’m not sure if I could still learn off a script. My baby-brain might be after banishing that opportunity.”

After a successful night of stand-up, Laura says that once the show is over, she is on a high.

“Why don’t I do this every night, I ask myself. I want to go to Vicar Street and Carnegie Hall. It feels like the world is my oyster.”

Reality bites.

But Laura, 39, does not begrudge being at home with her children.

She admits to having felt isolated when she and her engineer husband and first child lived in Ballycotton.

“I was quite far away from family when I had my first baby. Social media is often vilified but I found it great at that time. I just used it to connect with people similar to me; mams that are at home, still very ambitious, but in the throes of motherhood. I’m not really free to go up the country to do stand-up. I have responsibilities at the moment. I have made total peace with that. I love that I’m able to be with my kids.

“It has been nearly a full decade of mothering. I feel very proud of that. Stand-up will always be there for me.” 

Laura says some people try to put pressure on her to resume her stand-up gigs. But she is happy to be with her children for now.

“Deirdre O’Kane took about a seven-year break to mind her kids. There’s nothing wrong with it. I’d highly recommend it.

“I’m very aware that I’m able to go off and do my creative things because of my husband’s job. But the other side of that is that we haven’t ever had to pay for childcare.”

The Red Raw podcast with Laura O’Mahony and Rob Heffernan will perform live as part of the Cork Podcast Festival on March 29 at the Cork Opera House.

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