Belfast-born Paddy went from open-mic in 2018 to beginning a record breaking 5-night sell-out arena run in 2020. From 2020 to 2022 he won 2 awards for his BBC1 NI comedy sketch TV series ‘The Paddy Raff Show’.
In his unprecedented first two years in comedy, Paddy established himself as one of the biggest comedians in Northern Ireland amassing a huge following across social media (currently over 250K+) which spread to the UK and beyond during the pandemic, with a string of viral hits that led to him being dubbed ‘the comedy star of the Coronavirus Lockdown’ by The Irish Times. The pandemic paused a run of sold-out solo stand-up comedy shows that took in Belfast theatres and iconic venues like the Ulster Hall and SSE Arena.
Taking the NI live scene by storm and amassing millions of likes online culminated in Paddy having his own multi-award-winning comedy sketch series ‘The Paddy Raff Show’ commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland. The BBC1 NI July 2020 pilot episode was nominated for an RTS NI award and won the Celtic Media Festival award for Scripted Comedy. The show’s first full series, transmitted on BBC1 NI in 2021, was a ratings hit which was also nominated for a Celtic Media Award and won the RTS NI award for Scripted Comedy. BBC NI commissioned a second series which aired in 2022, bolstering his position as a household name in NI, all within 4 years of beginning stand-up.
Paddy’s stand-up tours have seen him become one of the biggest selling acts on the island of Ireland, with sold out venues across the UK and Ireland including six sold-out nights at Belfast’s SSE arena. He hosted the Belfast leg of BBC Three’s ‘Stand-up for Live Comedy’ in 2020, performed on ‘Live at the Waterfront’ on Sky Arts 2022 and also appeared on ITV’s ‘Secrets of the Comedy Circuit’ in 2022. He is currently working on a Northern Ireland Screen sitcom pilot script commission with Nice One Productions, based on his previous job as a wedding band musician.
- Paddy was outstanding on Saturday and a massive hit with the crowd. So can’t thank you enough for enabling Paddy to be there. It’s looking like we have made around £20,000 for the Air Ambulance Northern Ireland Charity which is amazing.Air Ambulance NI Charity event 2023
- I just wanted to send Paddy our major thanks for the awards last Thursday. Paddy was an absolutely brilliant host, we’ve had fantastic feedback from guests and I think it’s fair to say everyone is now a major fan. Lots of people saying they would book and see his show next time, which shows how well it all went. Please convey our appreciation to Paddy, we really can’t thank him enough.NI Contact Centre Awards 2022
- Paddy is great - love working with him. He's really chilled and is a complete pro. He'd be the first name I would suggest to any clients looking a comedian at the moment!Matthew, Lanyon Group
- "I can safely say that it was our best Awards ever and Paddy was central to its success. Nothing was too much trouble for him and his performance on the night was fantastic, and I think he really enjoyed the event himself. I was wondering if he may be interested in hosting again next year." NI Travel
