My Left Nut

A coming-of-age comedy about Belfast, masculinity, friendship, family, love, grief and testicles. The true story of a Belfast boy growing up with no father to guide him through, and a giant ball to weigh him down.

400 millilitres. That’s how much liquid was drained from Michael’s left testicle when he was a teenager. That’s more than a can of coke. He should have told someone sooner, but who could he turn to? His dad died ten years ago and besides, school is full of rumours about what the giant bulge in his trousers actually is. Who wants to stop that?

When Michael Patrick finally told his mum when he was 17, his testicle had swollen to the size of an avocado. “At first, I thought maybe it was supposed to be there,” Patrick told The Guardian. “But it just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

“It was massive,” he said. “I used to work in a cafe, standing on my feet for eight hours, and it would just drag and drag. The weight of it was so painful.”

Having spent years keeping silent about his testicle, Patrick now can’t stop talking about it. 

His one-man show is a raucous, poignant and wincingly funny drama in which Patrick plays himself as both a young child and a teenager and also shifts between the roles of his mum, his siblings, his doctors and his gang of mates.

The award-winning stage play was turned My Left Nut was picked up by the BBC and turned into a comedy-drama television miniseries.

 

Reviews:

Irish Times
★ ★ ★ ★ “intimacy through comedy”

The Stage
★ ★ ★ ★ “so much energy in the writing it’s almost exhausting. Patrick’s startlingly physical performance reflects this frenzy of adolescence”

The Reviews Hub
★ ★ ★ ★ “Given the calibre of this piece, it is surprising that My Left Nut is a writing debut for both Patrick and Kearney… [it] is what fringe theatre is all about, an hour of fresh, pure entertainment that shouldn’t be missed.”

Fest Magazine
★ ★ ★ ★ “A funny and poignant reminder to take care of yourself mentally and physically”

Broadway Baby
★ ★ ★ ★ “An undoubted and wonderfully entertaining tour de force that deserves to be seen sooner rather than later.”

Musical Theatre Musings
★ ★ ★ ★ “brilliantly written… you’re laughing along with Michael one moment and the next he comes out with something so poignant it stops you in your tracks.”

Credits