Irish standup comedian and writer Joanne McNally has revealed how her bulimia and mental breakdown in her early 30s became the catalyst for her comedy career. In a candid interview, the 41-year-old star of Bite Me and co-host of the hit podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me described her journey from a party-loving PR professional to a feral stage performer.
Childhood and Early Insecurities
Born in County Roscommon in 1983 and raised in Dublin, McNally recalls being a loud, flirtatious child who loved telling stories. At age three, she stood on a rockery in her schoolyard, telling a group of little girls that her birth parents had died in a plane crash and she was the sole survivor—an entirely fabricated tale. “It was my first little one-woman show and I liked the feeling of having an audience,” she said.
Despite her early performance instincts, McNally struggled with body image from a young age. “As far back as I can remember, I always thought I was fat,” she said. In school plays, she was cast as the daddy or in boys’ roles, reinforcing her feelings of being less desirable. She described herself as “not an attractive teenager” and felt like a “personality hire” rather than someone pursued romantically.
Bulimia and a Spiral in Her 20s
McNally’s 20s were marked by heavy drinking and three-day benders with friends in Dublin, working as a PR for a youth agency. “We were living the brand—partying all the time, wearing bicycle locks as necklaces, backward baseball caps and huge tortoiseshell glasses,” she recalled. But behind the fun, her bulimia was “spiralling out of control.” She took a job at a mental health charity, hoping the change would help, but the solitude allowed the eating disorder to take over. “I went from super-busy and sociable to one email a day, and it sent me absolutely nuts,” she said.
Breakdown and Turning Point
In her early 30s, McNally decided to “totally succumb to the mental breakdown” so that no one would expect anything from her. She quit her job and moved into her mother’s attic, living like a mental patient. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone—bulimia is really bad for you, and I still get teeth pulled out and filled in because being sick messes you up—but it was the making of me,” she said. The breakdown presented a fork in the road: with no mortgage or children, she had the financial freedom to explore what she should do with her life.
McNally attributes her bulimia not only to a desire to be desired but also to deep dissatisfaction. “I tried to get a sense of validation or achievement from being thin, as there was this other part of me I wasn’t expressing,” she explained. That changed when her friend Una wrote a play called Singlehood and asked McNally to perform. “Once I stood on stage, it felt as if I was home,” she said.
Accidental Comedy Career
McNally initially aimed for theatre but was encouraged by comedian PJ Gallagher to try standup. “I was ambitious and driven but I lacked confidence—and still do. Had he not been so encouraging, there’s no way I would have stepped on stage at a comedy club,” she said. Her breakthrough came with the one-woman show Bite Me, followed by the Prosecco Express tour, which included a 78-night run at Dublin’s Vicar Street.
During the pandemic, she launched the podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me with Vogue Williams. “We had this trapped audience, everyone was inside and on their phones and needed company,” she said. After restrictions lifted, she performed at a club in Greenwich, south London, and four girls asked for a photo—the first sign her audience had grown beyond her bubble.
Stage Persona and Audience
McNally describes her on-stage persona as “feral,” with boozy crowds that mirror her own drinking history. “The crowds at my gigs are boozy, because I am a boozer, but in spite of how mad the energy is, everyone is respectful,” she said. She has experienced stage-stormers and kerfuffles, such as handbags falling off balconies. She notes a recurring fan in Kilkenny who attends her Christmas show every year and presents her with a snowglobe containing their photo from the previous year.
Comedy, she believes, attracts characters who seek acceptance. “I’ve met a lot of adopted comics over the years. There is probably something in the huge effort to prove yourself and your worth, and being put up for adoption,” she said. Meeting her birth parents in her late 20s, she wondered if they were part of a showbiz dynasty. Her birth father simply said, “I think you’re just your own thing.”
McNally’s standup show Pinotphile is touring Ireland and the UK until December. She also hosts Unacceptable with Ed Gamble and Richard Ayoade on TLC. Reflecting on her journey, she said the insecure 18-year-old version of herself would be shocked by her career, but the little girl in the photo would not be surprised. “She was obsessed with Annie the orphan and knew her destiny was treading the boards—being loud, telling stories on stage, where I belong.”
