Gerry Carroll – Young

This was an utter delight to watch. I managed to catch the last one and I’m so glad I did. I thought it was funny, compelling and unexpectedly heart-wrenching.

It was probably my favourite show of the fringe because it was so clearly just about the joy of storytelling and performing. It made me cry

Gerry Carroll's solo show is genuinely a joy to watch. The audience is taken on a journey of laughter and happiness and poignant moments all interweaved with Gerry's wonderful storytelling skills, movement and song.
This show was a highlight of the Fringe for me and a must see!

A delightful hour of some silliness, some seriousness, some serious silliness and some silly seriousness

‘How did I turn into an oul fella? Asks the poster under the picture of a very happy looking chap. The promise of a New Clown Play also suggest that this won’t be a whinge fest. It isn’t. In fact it is a delight. I enjoyed every minute of this beautifully crafted play.
Carroll tells us about his childhood and youth in Ireland. What it meant to him being raised in a restrictive Catholic country and how he lost his faith, which he may or may not have found again much, much later. He tells us about his favourite book of Irish legends and what impression they made on him as a young boy. As the show progresses, we see how the legend intertwined with his life. In his maturity he finds a new interpretation and a new understanding of Oisín’s life story and the meaning of Tír na nÓg – The Land of the Young.

This is storytelling from the finest and deserves a much, much bigger audience. Gerry is a true modern Seanchaí. I laughed a lot and felt often deeply moved. Sweet silliness takes deep thought by the hand and they skip into the sunset.

Young is a touching and funny hour of storytelling and clown about getting old.
Gerry twists together his personal experiences with Irish mythology for a very satisfying, poignant ending.