I first met Val Troy in our online writing group ‘Writers Ink’ in 2021, bonding over a piece of comedy about a character awkwardly removing troublesome structural underwear in a bathroom toilet at a wedding. We’ve all been there. We quickly discovered we had similar senses of humour (one with slightly fewer filters than the other). This sparked the idea that we two Dublin comedy writers should collaborate together.
Months later we met in person over several glasses of Prosecco and exchanged numbers. That’s when the WhatsApp diatribe began in earnest. In fact, I think some of our best work is on WhatsApp, to be honest when we weren’t even trying.
According to Val I’m the one with comedy credentials. I ran my own comedy club in Portmarnock, in North Dublin before the pandemic and performed at Electric Picnic, Ireland’s largest arts and music festival. I was part of the first all-female comedy line-up at the festival (the brainchild of Emily O’Callaghan) and Joanne McNally headlined. This was an amazing experience but collaborating with Val raises the bar. We are better together.
The energy that bounces between us is quite rare, and the best part is that we are polar opposites. Val is an accountant and mother to three teenagers. I am a divorcee (twice I might add), and a gay one at that. We come from wildly different backgrounds, but our comedy writing just works.
Val is straight and narrow, I’m gay and slightly chubby. I’m 52 and Val is nearly at the 50 mark so our brains are aligned in many ways. And we make each other laugh so much, we just thought, why not see if other people laugh at us too?
In 2022 we were inspired by a Funny Women interview with it’s ‘matron’ Jo Brand about the annual Funny Women Awards, which are an incredible showcase for the best and brightest of comedy talent across stage, screen and page. In the interview, Jo bemoaned the lack of comedy duos setting Val and me on a pathway to writing our first screenplay together. This was subsequently long listed in the Female Pilot Club screenwriting competition.
Val and I then connected with Hatty Ashdown, host of the Funny Mummies Podcast with Gemma Beagley. Hatty very kindly gave us an insight into how she pulled her show The Worry Drawer together, further motivating us to get a move on.
But every comedy duo needs a name and ChatterBoxx was born. We would love to claim that the name is underpinned by insight-based research and focus groups but it wasn’t. Instead, it was born from a hectic WhatsApp back and forth. The moniker suits us perfectly; Val is all about the chatter and I’m all about my box – make of that what you will.
Now we’ve jumped even deeper into the comedy pond by taking over as regional producers for Funny Women Ireland and, as ChatterBoxx, we are hosting Funny Women Live in Dublin. The first event takes place at Whelans, Wexford Street on Monday 19th June 2023, a venue that is steeped in nostalgia and boasts serious comedy heritage.
All the info and ticket link is here. we’ve already been moved to a bigger room due to demand so please don’t leave booking until the last minute.
We can’t wait to co-host this live show, let the ChatterBoxx and even more new female comedy careers begin!
