A few years ago Al Porter was one of Ireland’s most rapidly rising stars in the entertainment world. He had become the youngest headliner in Vicar Street’s history at 21, his award-winning stand up was receiving rave reviews from critics, he had his own TV and radio shows, and big plans in motion for the USA. And then, as he says himself,  it “all fell apart”.

 For reasons that we cover in this episode, Al suddenly stepped back from all of his public work and spent the next few years living at home, eating and drinking heavily, and mentally not in a good place.

 But now, after several years of self-reflection and analysis, and some serious work on himself to get sober, Al is back. He’s selling out venues with his new stand up show, supporting great comedians like Reginald D Hunter, and he’s off the booze and looking and feeling great.

 We met up in the studio earlier this week and over the course of almost two hours, Al told me the full story about the last few years he has spent out of the public eye and how he has got himself back on track. This is part 1 of that conversation.

 COMEDY – Johnny Sexton has hung up his boots but his career is far from over- we get exclusive access to his voicemails and hear who’s been getting in touch

 Produced by Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand