A Chat with Síomha Hennessy (01.07.25)
Blending social commentary with witty songwriting, singer-songwriter and comedian Síomha Hennessy delivers cheeky anthems for the masses. We speak with the Irish artist about her new single, ‘Unexpectedly Unfamous’, her work as a comedian, performing in burrito takeaway basements, and much more.
OSR: Your new single ‘Unexpectedly Unfamous’ is described as a “cabaret pop lament for the delusional.” What inspired you to write this track, and who, exactly, are the delusional?
Hennessy: I actually wrote this song for a comedy cabaret show that I brought to Edinburgh Fringe in 2023 and 2024. In the show, I play a kind of heightened, alter-ego version of myself. It’s a show for late bloomers and misfits and I’ll be performing it at Dublin Fringe 2025.
OSR: You’ve called yourself a “tragicomic diva” and joked about “ego death” in burrito basements. How much of ‘Unexpectedly Unfamous’ is autobiography, and how much is character performance?
Hennessy: The line between fiction and reality is blurred! I’m definitely playing a character, it’s all my worst bits blown up and exaggerated! With most of my material, whether songs or stand-up, I tend to start out with a nugget of truth, but I let the story or the song grow in any direction without much loyalty to autobiographical fact. I certainly hope I’m not as egotistical and vain as the character I’ve created, but I do enjoy taking all the traits that people are embarrassed to admit to and having a bit of craic with it….dragging the shadow self out into the light, if you will! And not to be too grandiose about it, but I do believe that the capitalist system we live in draws out those characteristics in us – the fear of inadequacy, individualism, competition, status chasing. So the inner conflict, the cognitive dissonance that you hear in the song (and in the show), is a feature of trying to live by your anti-capitalist principles in a society that encourages the opposite
OSR: You say there’s a wealth of hilarious material to mine from trying to make it in the arts. What’s the most ridiculous situation you’ve found yourself in, purely in the name of “art”?
Hennessy: I did spend one summer at Edinburgh Fringe performing free stand-up comedy in the literal basement of a burrito takeaway. The deal was you could gig in the space for free, as long as you didn’t mind chefs and kitchen porters roaming across the “stage” carrying vats of guacamole. In fact, almost anything I’ve done at the Edinburgh Fringe was an exercise in “ego death”. I’ve all but chased people down the road begging them to come to my show. I think when I found myself one night threatening the audience that I’d lock them inside the theatre if they didn’t post a positive review about my show, I had to ask myself how low I was willing to stoop; I found that the answer was “very low indeed”. In fact, there are always new depths to plumb, as I’m discovering every day. As I like to say, who can afford dignity in this economy?
OSR: You blend comedy, original songwriting, and biting social commentary. How do you balance humour with sincerity in your work, especially in a song like this one?
Hennessy: Well, I think in a song like this one, it’s pretty easy to mine the humour. I usually come at most things from a comedy place first, but life being what life is, the funniest things can also be sad and I don’t shy away from vulnerability or emotional honesty. I guess I just bring my whole personality to my writing.
OSR: You’ve been part of a musical duo (Sisterix), had a solo show (30 Under 30), and now you’re working on a solo EP. How has your artistic identity evolved through these different formats?
Hennessy: It’s both a blessing and a curse how varied my artistic (and also my non-artistic) journey has been. The duo I had with my sister was kind of a pop/rock duo; we both wrote original songs. We went on hiatus when she was going back to do a Masters. Meanwhile, I was also developing the comedy thing more, and I wanted to find a way to combine it with my songwriting. Which is when I started writing my Edinburgh show. Because I’m now doing comedy AND music, it’s a bit harder to put my work in a bracket. I sometimes get advised by people in the industry to focus more on one element over another. Some people tell me to focus on comedy, others tell me to push the music! But I’m building my own third
thing, and it may be a longer road. But so be it!
OSR: You talk about billboard self-promotion and TikTok algorithms with such raw honesty. Do you feel social media is a blessing, a curse, or a tragicomic Greek chorus in your creative journey?
Hennessy: It’s a real double-edged sword – a gilded lily, a poisoned chalice, a double edged sword (insert metaphor of choice here). Honestly, on the (several times daily) occasions where I reconsider my career choices, it’s honestly the imperative to relentlessly self-commodify that really gives me pause. It’s funny how there doesn’t seem to be a way to do art full-time without being chained to social media. The possibilities opened up by these platforms to directly reach audiences are what has made it possible for me to do this line of work , and conversely, makes it all a bit of a pain in the arse too! Being an artist in these times is full of contradictions. I reserve the right to change my mind and disappear completely.
OSR: What was it like performing at the Edinburgh and Dublin Fringe festivals? Any Fringe survival tips for other artists out there plotting their own one-woman shows?
Hennessy: Hmmm. Well, regarding the Edinburgh Fringe, I would say to lower expectations! I would argue against paying a lot of money to perform in one of the prestigious venues in the hopes of getting industry attention. I recommend doing the Free Fringe (which is a fringe festival to the fringe), which is a far cheaper way of doing it, and you experience the best thing about participating in Fringe, which is the chance to perform your show to new audiences every night. And you can even make some money. I guess what I’m saying is, don’t knock the burrito basement till you’ve tried it.
Dublin Fringe is a different beast, as it’s a curated festival, so you have to apply to be in it, and they only program a certain number of acts. This makes it more difficult to be programmed (I’ve had plenty of rejection emails when I first started applying), but once you’re programmed, it’s very well regarded and they really support their acts. No burrito basement gigs here, not so much as a kidney bean in sight.
OSR: You’re clearly not afraid of cringeworthy, and you encourage others to embrace it too. Why do you think dignity is overrated, especially in creative careers?
Hennessy: Hyper self-consciousness is a total killer of creativity. Like obviously, we all aspire to make good work and to improve our craft, but especially when you’re starting out, you WILL be a bit shite. Unfortunately, public humiliation is just part of this game! I look back occasionally on my early sketches and songs and immediately experience a strong urge to bury myself alive in quicksand. But that experimentation is an important part of an artist’s evolution. You won’t get anywhere without taking big swings, throwing shite at the wall and seeing what sticks. And I don’t actually see anything as a flop. Art is strange. Like sometimes you make something that ostensibly flops, but then like 3 people are randomly obsessed with it. That’s still pretty cool.
OSR: You joked that your career goal is “posthumous success”, but seriously, what would success look like for you in the next few years?
Hennessy: I often try to interrogate that question, and I’m not sure I have the answer. I guess the song kind of interrogates this question too. The world we live in values fame, awards and status, and it’s hard not to be lured by that idea of success. And it’s true that to have a financially viable arts career in this economy, you do need to grow your audience and scale up. So I suppose that’s what I’m trying to do. But there are realities about the pace and intensity of life as a big touring artist that do give me pause. So it’s not a straightforward answer. I’m just doing what I want to do for now, and I’m hoping that the path will illuminate itself to me as I go.
OSR: If someone hears ‘Unexpectedly Unfamous’ and feels seen (or painfully called out), what’s the one thing you hope they take away from the song?
Hennessy: We’re all disappointments! The arts are not supported properly, so unless you come from money, it’s almost impossible to ‘make it’. At the risk of sounding like 90% of the men on Hinge, don’t take yourself too seriously! I’m working off the theory that being a disappointment is punk. Yes, I’ve just decided that. But also don’t be ashamed of your egomaniac fame-wanting greedy goblin side. Have fun with it! Let your inner goblin out to play. And bring on the revolution!
Many thanks to Síomha Hennessy for speaking with us. You can find out more about Síomha Hennessy on her Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok and Spotify.
