Udderbelly Festival 2015: six shows to see

Sass A ferocious ball of energy, Omielan is making waves thanks to her playful, sassy act drawing on break-ups and feminism.

Beyoncé Omielan’s previous hit show was a tribute to the booty-shaking R&B queen, simply entitled ‘What Would Beyoncé Do?’

Partying ‘Am I Right Ladies!?’ isn’t just stand-up – it’s a full-on party. You will be expected to warm-up with a quick shoulder shake.

Clowning It’s now all the rage and New Zealander mime artist Trygve Wakenshaw is a master clown.

Silence Most comics are petrified of it, but Wakenshaw embraces it. His show is largely wordless and there are no props for him to fall back on (or off).

Penises In the show, the rubber-limbed Kiwi gets his chap out. But rumours it’s wearing make up and Groucho Marx glasses are sadly off-base.

Angst This Foster’s Award-nominated sketch duo weave together comedy and teenage angst in their high-school reunion show.

Heartbreak The story centres on 28-year-old sad sack Brian, who wants to confess his love to his childhood sweetheart. Trouble is, she now has a boyfriend – and he’s Swedish. And a total dick.

’80s nostalgia The show cleverly uses teen-movie clichés to drive its narrative. Will Brian be stuffed headfirst into a locker, or will he be punching the air like that bloke at the end of ‘The Breakfast Club’? Buy a ticket and find out!

Games Alex Horne’s fusion of comedy, live music and silly games returns, this time with a quizzy twist.

Jazz Horne and his musical pals improvise songs in styles from across the musical map. Just don’t mention jazz – Horne hates jazz. Despite the fact that he’s clearly in a jazz band.

Guests In previous years, top-name comics – from Harry Hill to Tim Key – have joined in the fun.

Beats Ireland’s seventh biggest hip hop act are Rob Broderick and James Hancox, two pasty-faced gents with a knack for hilarious improvised raps guaranteed to bring the house (or inflatable cow) down.

Rhymes Their raps are somehow magicked from thin air and a handful of garbled (ie drunk) suggestions.

Participation They couldn’t do it without you guys, the audience. Aw.

Smart gossip This Canadian-born gagsmith surveys the pop-culture landscape with a ruthless eye, cracking jokes at the expense of your favourite tabloid dingbats. But it’s all to make larger, biting points about our celeb-obsessed society.

Off-the-telly If she looks familiar, it’s because Ryan is never off the TV these days, bringing her sweet-and-sour wit to the likes of ‘Live at the Apollo’ and ‘QI’. Get booking – one of her Udderbelly dates has already sold out.

Canada A proud Canuck, Ryan is never happier than when riffing on the subject of Rob Ford, Toronto’s crack-smoking ex-mayor.