Owen O’Neill

Owen O’Neill is a comedian, writer and actor.

He made his TV debut performing stand-up on SATURDAY LIVE in 1986 and has since performed on numerous TV shows including JUST FOR LAUGHS at the Montreal Comedy Festival for Channel Four and his own stand-up special for the BBC.

Moments treasured in Owen’s career so far include:

As a stand-up comedian, Owen has travelled far and wide taking in such places as Hong Kong, Bali, Jakarta, Melbourne, Auckland, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. He is also a regular at the London COMEDY STORE.

As a TV presenter he has hosted three series of SAINTS AND SCHOLARS a panel game for BBC Northern Ireland with guests such as Mark Lamarr,

Joe Brand, Janet Street-Porter, James Nesbit, Frank Carson and many more, He hosted and co-wrote SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND also for BBC Northern Ireland, a Friday night chat show with music and sketches including Joanna Lumley, Roger Lloyd –Pack and Lionel Blair.

He presented two Travelogue episodes for Channel Four on Canada and Spain and his own spoof Documentary on ‘comedy roots’ THE GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME for RTE.

Owen’s TV writing includes ARISE AND GO NOW, a black comedy about priests, pigeons, the IRA and WB Yeats, which was broadcast in the BBC2’s screenplay series to critical acclaim:

“O’Neill has scored a fine television debut and a brave one” The Guardian

“His writing is reminiscent of the film of John Ford and the plays of Sean O’Casey” The Times

Owen wrote and starred in SHOOTING TO STARDOM broadcast on Channel 4’s He Play She Play series. This film won the Irish Short Film Award at the Cork Film Festival. In March 2000 Owen wrote THE FITZ a sit-com for BBC2.

‘Anarchic and wonderfully weird.’ Sunday Telegraph

Writing for the theatre includes PATRICK’S DAY, a two hander written with Sean Hughes. Owen and Sean performed this at the Edinburgh Festival winning the Edinburgh Critics Award for Best Comedy.

His one man show IT’S A BIT LIKE THIS was short-listed for the 1994 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival and in 1998 he won the LWT writing award for his one-man play OFF MY FACE which is currently being adapted as a feature film by Holy Cow Productions and Film on Four.

Owen made a welcome return to the Assembly rooms in Edinburgh in 1999 winning a Fringe First with two highly acclaimed half hour plays TRAVELLIN’ LIGHT AND DEAD MEAT which were performed back to back. In 2001 he toured with his one man play ‘HENRY FONDA’S FAULT’ which had it’s New York off Broadway premier at the Westbeth Theatre in Greenwich Village in August 2001.

2001 also saw Owen writing and starring in GAGGING FOR IT with Sean Hughes, an on the road sit-com drama for BBC2, playing the part of ‘Finbar Brady’ in ‘PARADISE HEIGHTS’ for the BBC and winning ‘Best Irish Comedian’ at the Buzz Magazine Awards 2002.

2003 saw Owen visiting the Edinburgh Festival, but this time with his stand-up/poetry show ‘Stanza-up Comedy’, which was described ‘as a captivating mix of poetry and stories. Funny poems, sad poems… even a little erotica’.
**** The Scotsman.

The 2004 Edinburgh Festival saw Owen performing in the critically acclaimed ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest’, which then transferred to London’s West End until January this year.
His Film credits include:

BEST (The Comedian) Dir: Ello Bolz

THE GENERAL (Toomey) Dir: John Boorman

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Dogberry) Dir: John O’Hare

THE MATCHMAKER (Devlin the Gardai) Dir: Mark Joffe

MICHAEL COLLINS (Rory O’Connor) Dir: Neil Jordan

SHOOTING TO STARDOM (Dan Cimeo) Dir: Kieron J Walsh