Marcus Keeley

Marcus Keeley has reinvented himself on TikTok. Comedian and veteran of the Belfast creative scene, you may know him from his detailed reviews of unremarkable places, from Homebase to Applegreen to the dump, narrated in his signature witty monotone. His most popular, a visit to Tesco in Newtownbreda, has been viewed over 584,000 times.

“Occasionally [TikTok] would offer me these ‘aspirational’ review style videos of people going out for a fairly standard meal or spending a night glamping in Fermanagh as if it was a life-changing experience. I’m not denying folk having a nice time, but the express reason of these videos seemed to me to be to make it more than what it is. A lot of the time they come off as quite insincere too, which just led me to questioning why these videos were being made at all. From boredom these sorts of videos inspired in me, I rattled off a few clips of very mundane, everyday experiences but presented in the same style of an influencer. It turns out that going to Tesco or to a local park are quite relatable experiences, so people seem to enjoy them and for the most part have recognised the joke that I’m having with the format.”

Marcus first dipped his toes into world of comedy back in the mid-2000s, sneaking into poetry nights at The John Hewitt as a teenager. He went on to establish Voicebox Comedy in 2008 as an alternative to the more established comedy nights in Belfast. These days, he’s a regular at the Coven and Sunflower Comedy Clubs and just headlined his own show at The Strand.

When not podcasting, MCing or checking out the nearest Home Bargains, Marcus can be found livestreaming on Twitch. “Streaming has been invaluable in terms of exercising the same responsive stand-up muscle. The pace of streaming online is much slower than performing in front of a crowd – you can’t necessarily see or hear an online audience laugh. For me it’s a social experience and allows me to talk out whatever has been rattling around in my head or what’s been happening in the news. If I manage to come up with something entertaining on stream, I then consider if this is something I can bring to a live audience, adapting it so it’d work in an actual room of strangers.”

The lockdowns provided fertile ground for many trying their hand at short form comedy videos and really taking off. “There seems to have been a backlog of new comedians bursting onto the scene. For me it’s been a bit like being back at school – turning up to gigs and not knowing anybody’s name and feeling a little awkward and on the periphery amongst all these vibrant and young comedians. Everyone has been quite nice but I do feel old now. Sneaking into pubs to watch poetry feels like a very long time ago.”

I’m sure he’ll be back, like.

This feature was written for Dig With It magazine. It appears in print in Issue 10, which you can purchase here.