Enya Martin Would Ya Be Able . . . to see her at Vicar Street?

Did you start by sharing the videos on YouTube?

Facebook, because I just thought that the types of videos I was doing were kind of more targeted toward Irish audiences. I don’t think they were really on YouTube, but I uploaded them anyway to YouTube for people who hadn’t got Facebook. It was mainly just for the demographic, people my age, living in Dublin or around Ireland.

What exactly is Would Ya Be Able about?

It’s a full stand-up show, so it’s just me doing stand-up for an hour-and-a-half. The last time I was in Vicar Street it was more like a sketch show and it had actors in it, but I prefer doing stand-up. I enjoy it more. I’ve toured around the country and around Dublin with this show, so I’m bringing it back to Vicar Street now.

How long did it take to create the show?

I started in stand-up at the end of 2017, and I only started with five minutes of material in a club. I have gradually built up to an hour-and-a-half, and just constantly improving with every show. Stage time helps a lot too, so trial and error and dropping stuff that doesn’t work, that’s how I put it together. 

Enya with Rory O’Connor in Rory’s Stories

Do you ever find doing stand-up difficult?

It is hard when you’re in front of the wrong crowd. I’m lucky that I have people who pay to come see me and I have already formed an audience. But it’s much harder when you’re standing in front of a crowd that doesn’t know you and you have to kind of prove yourself. That’s the hard part of it. That’s why I don’t like doing clubs anymore, I just don’t feel comfortable in them. I’d rather do my own shows where people know what they’re getting when they see me. So no, it’s not really that hard and I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had any tough shows in front of my own audience.

Did you have any experience on stage before stand-up?

I enjoyed doing drama workshops and that when I was younger and I loved going to see pantomimes at Christmas-time, I never really thought ‘when I grow up I’m going to be on stage, that’s what I want to do.’ It never crossed my mind. I actually went to college and studied advertising. I went in the complete opposite direction. I was always outgoing and I wasn’t shy. I loved being in school plays, but when I made my first video and it got a good response I thought I was on to something then. I just worked really hard to improve myself and I finally found what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I found it by accident.

What’s your favourite part about your job?

My favorite part is that I get to do what I love for a living. I get to make money off it, I get to do what I love, I just have fun, that’s the great part of it. You’re your own boss and you don’t have anyone to answer to. That would be really tough. If for some reason tomorrow this was all gone away, I’d find it really difficult to go back and work under somebody else and follow rules. That’s what I love, I get to work on my own terms.

Would Ya Be Able is making its debut in Vicar Street on Friday, October 18. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster and cost €28

What do you want the audience to get from the show?

A lot of the feedback I get when people come to see my show is that it’s real. I talk about real-life stuff and it’s all relatable and they can see themselves in the stories that I tell and that’s what I want. I want people to walk away and say ‘that was worth the money, I would come see her again, everything she said was so relatable.’ I want people to enjoy themselves really.

Would Ya Be Able is making its debut in Vicar Street on Friday, October 18. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster and cost €28.