Making his mark

Enda Markey obviously knows a good time when he finds it. The Irish-born singer, who had lived in Melbourne since arriving in Australia, travelled to Sydney for this year’s Mardi Gras to perform at Launch and in his one-man festival show.

Markey had such a great time during those three weeks he has since settled here and now calls the Harbour City home.

I just really felt at home here and wanted to stay, so I did, Markey says, and his new show Home Thoughts From Abroad opens next week. I lived for three weeks with all I had with me -“ and had a ball! he laughs.

I’ve been back to Melbourne since to pick up the rest of my stuff. This year when I came to Sydney, it just felt right to me.

Since arriving in Australia almost four years ago, Markey has travelled the country with his shows One Night Stand and The Mangina Monologues.  He has become a regular feature at gay and lesbian festival events, having played at Mardi Gras, Melbourne’s Midsumma and Pride Fair in Perth.

Figuring he had turned his back on his Irish heritage for long enough, Markey has written the new show about his thoughts of Ireland from a land far away.

In Home Thoughts From Abroad, he sings a range of Irish songs and tells anecdotes about growing up in Dublin, as well as giving his impressions about establishing a new life in Australia. The song list of his show runs the gamut, from the classic Danny Boy through to Peter Allen’s I Still Call Australia Home.

I had a bit of a struggle with that at first, he admits. But I do it as a tribute to my new Australian heritage and, as I now eat Vegemite, I guess I can call myself an Australian. I love the lyrics of the song as it is all about people from all over the world returning to this country, so that’s where I fit in.

Markey also says Home Thoughts From Aboard marks a departure for him in terms of the show’s content. With his previous stage ventures being gay-themed about his own life, he hopes this show will attract a wider audience, if a recent Melbourne season is anything to go by.

That was an interesting season as one half of the audience were gay couples and the other were older people who had moved out from Ireland. One side of the room got some jokes and the other side got the other jokes, so it seemed to work out okay.

But I do like performing to a gay crowd as it is like speaking in the mother tongue -“ you can say things and you know the audience gets it. With this, I am doing a show about a gay person but it’s the show you can definitely bring you mum along to.

Home Thoughts From Abroad opens Thursday 1 December at 7:30pm at @Newtown, Enmore Road, Newtown.