As well as live comedy, this year's festival, thanks to new sponsors Sky, also brought a bit of big screen razzamatazz to the proceedings with premieres of two upcoming Sky comedies, the second instalment of Charlie Brooker's A Touch of Cloth and two episodes of the Chris O'Dowd comedy, Moone Boy. Brooker and the Cloth star John Hannah were treated with a mix of awe and respect during an Q&A and Cloth replayed the formula of episode one with a series of blink-and-you'll-miss-them visual gags and intentionally bad plotting, at least I think it was intentional.
But Moone Boy was something else. The Watergate Theatre was packed and it wasn't the free popcorn that helped to fill it or the fact that co-writer Nick Vincent Murphy is from Kilkenny. It was the presence of co-stars 
Chris O'Dowd and David Rawle (Martin Moone) who were given a deafening cheer when they walked onstage. In fact the entire two episodes were greeted by wall-to-wall guffaws, the stand-out scene being a corny but hilarious homage to Dirty Dancing.
Events like these risk changing the emphasis of Cat Laughs from a laid back alternative affair into something more like the Edinburgh Festival. They were fantastic scoops but I think two of these are enough. If there had been any more than two exclusives they would start to overshadow the live stand-up comedy, which is really what Kilkenny is about.
In fact in yesterday's round-up I didn't quite do justice to all the talent on display, so here is a quick run-down of other performers who caught my eye. Aisling Bea was on superb form talking about growing up as a hip hop kid. Thanks to Bea I learnt that "shift" is apparently Irish slang for snog – a way of getting home from discos was known as a "shift for a lift" – though I can't help thinking maybe "shift" really means something more than a peck on the cheek. The newly-married Holly Walsh (pictured) was also very good (though I heard her namesake Seann Walsh had a tough crowd).
I finally got to see Sanderson Jones' Comedy Sale and it didn't disappoint. As is his style he had researched his ticket holders during the day on social media and duly embarrassed them onscreen in a salutary warning to watch what you tweet and put on Facebook. Jones' scripted material was pretty good too. He certainly has no shortage of energy, even if his narrative arc was a little too Gormanesque and his madcap delivery was a little too Tony Law. But these are minor critical quibbles, Comedy Sale was funny and filthy and went down brilliantly (cue Michael Douglas-based gag).
On the final night Rich Hall serenaded the Langton's audience with a song squeezing in Irish place names - "You're Dublin up" etc. Alfie Brown was better than when i last saw him, waxing philosophical about the way TV censored Cee Lo Green's Forget You, but shows Rhianna videos at teatime when 7-year-olds are watching. Brown is getting better with every gig, but he seems to be struggling to find his own voice. Last time I saw him I kept thinking of Russell Brand, this time he fell more into the Jack Whitehall camp. I expect great things of Brown, but it might still be a while yet. As for Kilkenny, I'm sure there will be greatness in the future there too, but I love as you are, please don't change.
Cat Laughs Review Part 1 here.
