The American Dream

CHAMPIONS OF DANCE (our new show which isn’t yet launched) We will be working on the show in CIACLA Contemporary Irish Center LA.

We will be doing one show only!

We are working with some really fun people on this project and we can’t wait to tell you all about it but have to keep it quiet a bit longer… in the mean time hold out for the Irish launch date and tell your cousins in LA to get down to CIACLA on July 12th!

It will be our second time in the States the first we certainly made a splash the the hit show RIOT and we got special mention in the New York Times “Truly Subversive”

Read the full review here

This time it’s all Strut…

for a full hour of dream fulfilling fantasy comedy…. with a fare splatter of acrobatic ballet!

For more information http://ciacla.com/event/saga-lords-of-strut/

Thanks to the Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles for inviting us to the land of opportunity

JUST FOR LAUGHS… the big break?

July 2018 Lords headed over to Just For Laughs in Montreal Canada after a last minute invitation… every break is a big break… Just for Laughs is North Americas largest comedy festival and it was a big compliment to be invited… the first Irish act in 5 years to be invited. 

We didn’t come home with a sitcom in the back pocket… but its our first look into the North American comedy world and we will be going back for more looks… stay tuned in for more news!

In 2017 we performed on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent…

To be fully honest we had to think long and hard about doing it.

As independent artists (aren’t all artists independent?) but what I think independent artists means is people not making loads of money, which is 99% of artists….. ANYWAY we had to think hard about going on the show because it is a massive commercial entity that has a history of ridiculing and bullying performers, and other’s, who’s delusions, they groom. The original inspiration for the Lords of Strut characters is people who are delusional about their talents being rejected from shows like, and including, Britain’s got Talent. We thought, what a good idea, let’s make characters who have grown up making shows in their bedroom but think they are star worthy and decide to make a show and take it on the road… character and real life often mirror each other. 

When approached by ITV to take part in the show we just didn’t think our piss take of fame and celebrity would be a good fit or sit with our “artistic merit” After some consideration and consultation with friends in the business we realised that our act probably would work and if we could do it on our own conditions would subvert the show itself. We did get to do it on our own conditions, we got to stay in character (actors words for acting and not being ourselves) we didn’t get all our demands met, we didn’t get paid… but we did get to be exposed to a massive audience, without, we feel sacrificing our “artistic merit and street cred”. The show itself has changed over the last few years and the landscape around it, it doesn’t bully and ridicule people anymore, it doesn’t make massive stars out of people, it is still a commercial TV show masquerading as a talent contest but we looked at it like one of the old variety TV shows, and why not?

From humble beginnings rose the Legend that is Lords of Strut

FROM 2009 – 2019

The very very very very first show 2009 in front of the Peace Park Cork city… it was a little rough around the edges, some people say our shows still are, but what do people know, unless you are one of them and then, in my opinion, you are a gifted creature!

It was all spandex and “bad” dance… has that much really changed…

We were (and still are sometimes) Street Performers, with no training, contacts or any clue. The one place we knew we could perform was on the street, sure who would stop us! We have still never been stopped by the law for any street shows, parties, raves, filming and or gathering large groups of people to use the streets in their own way.

Our first show was an instant hit, it took a few years for everyone to agree but we were very happy, and we laughed a lot! Since then we have spread the laughter, and have made millions laugh… if you count of videos, and we do! sometimes it feels like we are running a business more than spreading laughter, and it takes away a bit of your own laughter… but if we can step outside of the tedium of taxes, the economy, and chasing the next gig and dream career, if we can do that, we can look with pride at having achieved more than we ever set out to. Not that we had a plan and set out to do anything other than not have real jobs.

Making art and being a clown for the past ten years, creating, performing, learning, sharing many many many joyous moments with people who I know well and people who I will never see again, people who have only seen us from a distance, people who scratched our decks pushing around a shopping trolley with a sound system, people who saw our show randomly, people who come see all our shows it has been a gift! We are very lucky and privileged to still be following our passion, living from our art and chasing new opportunities. Thank you to everyone who has shared their laughs with us over the years.