The funniest thing to happen to folk music since the banjo!
In no particular order Keith has been described as -
- a great singer-songwriter
- a stunning storyteller
- a fine guitarist
- a superbly original stand-up
- a kids' entertainer par excellence
- the cleanest comic I’ve ever seen
Keith is available to play: festivals and clubs, nurseries and schools, arts centres and theatres, colleges and universities, TV and radio, after dinner entertainment and parties, corporate and charity events throughout the UK and indeed the world. He plays shows for adults, children and mixed family audiences. Scroll to the bottom of the page for details of his Chritstmas Show.
Stand-up comic, fall-down comedian, surreal snigger-songwriter, guitar-hero, performance-artist, [tall] story-teller, philophoser, scriptwriter, [none can] compere, man-of-mystery, inner-childminder, actor, stuntman, life and soul of the [kids] party, raconteur, author, wit, half-wit, secret[sh!]-agent, [Vauxhall] astral-traveller, Geordie-cultural-attache, word-juggler, unexpected clairvoyant, dream-weaver, daydream believer, psycho-linguist, smile sculptor, [compulsive] lying-tamer, Great-British eccentric, [alleged], champion tiddly-winker, sanddancer, friend to the pantomime horse, and... all-round good egg.
Never, ever, offensive - safe to bring your kids, your mother or your great-great-granny too!
And now Keith is doubling up to duo-land. He is available with the lovely Lauren South. This gives Keith the opportunity to air some of his more serious songs and to play for Lauren's beautiful singing.
Also availabe: DONNELLY & SOUTH'S CHRISTMAS CRACKER
Just in case you were worried he was turning too serious, here's Keith's version of Bohemian Wellerman from his hilarious SHANTYSKEPTIC SHOW
For festivals Keith offers: mainstage one-man-shows, family shows, MC-ing, meet-the-artist, round-robins and workshops (The Bits Between the Songs is his most popular, but there's also The Serious Side of Keith Donnelly, and the Workshop Workshop). He's a veritable one-man festival.
His Shantyskeptic show is new for 2023
Keith also offeres storytelling for children in schools and at festivals and any other events you can imagine.
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The Real Biography
Keith started playing guitar in his teens, on a ‘beaten up old monster’ that his dad had traded with a Norwegian Sailor. He had Classical lessons for a couple of years in South Shields, the perfect grounding for the finger-picking style he went on to develop for accompanying his original songs. Whilst studying (Psychology and Education) at Warwick University he met and teamed up with the Multi-Instrumental Singer Songwriter Martyn Oram, and the two worked for a couple of happy (and poor!) years as Waterfall, eventually becoming a trio when Gilly Derby joined in 1980.
Keith and Gilly worked as Little Aeroplane for a while with a successful album of the same name, before becoming Nothing By Chance. doing numerous national and international tours, culminating in the album ‘Ghosts of Love’ for Chrysalis and their own BBC special (first shown on BBC2 then repeated on BBC1 due to public demand) and had reached ‘Cult Status’ (Keith says this means they made lots of money for other people) by the early 90's.
In his solo projects, from the early nineties onwards, Keith’s comedy genius has been allowed to flourish. He has written substantial live Stand-Up routines and TV material for the likes of Phil Cool and Jasper Carrott, as well as having written for TV companies such as Celador (the 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' people) and Ragdoll (the 'Tellytubbies' people). In the last couple of decades Keith has played at literally hundreds of festivals, colleges and universities, arts centres and theatres, comedy clubs, etc. etc. in the UK and worldwide, as well as being widely in demand for After-Dinner Speaking and Corporate Events. He also script-writes light-hearted speeches for corporate events.
He also runs Storytelling and Music and Song workshops at Stratford YHA and works as often as his schedule allows with nursery and primary schools across the country bringing live music and story to preschool children.
He has worked for one series on BBC 1's Pebble Mill writing and performing a new humorous topical song each week and has done the difficult 'warm-up-man' job on many TV shows and live tours.
Keith and Friend at Warwick Folk Festival in the family concert
GIG LIST
KD = Keith solo
D&S = Donnelly & South
2024
Donnelly & South's Christmas Cracker 2024
Starts Here!
Wed 27th Nov D&S Cottingham Live
The Back Room 173 Hallgate HU16 4BB
Sat 30th Nov D&S
Morton Concerts
New Day Baptist Church, Morton, Bourne PE10 0NR, UK
Sun 1st Dec D&S
Scrag End Folk
The Railway Inn, 31 Ashby Road, Moira DE12 6DJ
Thur 5th Dec D&S
Bideford Folk
Joiners Arms, Market Place, Bideford. EX39 2DR
Sun 8th Dec D&S
Folk on the Moor
The Moorland Hotel, Wotter, Plymouth, PL7 5HP
Wed 11th Dec D&S
Xmas Costa Festival
Hayling Island
Thur 12th Dec KD
Xmas Costa Festival
Hayling Island
Sat 14th Dec D&S
Anteros Arts,
11-15 Fye Bridge Street, Norwich, NR3 1IL
Fri 20th Dec
Unavailable
-o0o-
2025
Fri 3rd Jan KD
Poynton Phoenix Folk
Sat 1st March KD
Private gig, Gloucester
Sat 30 March
Private party
Thu 3 Apr
Lyceum FC of Newport
KD
Crindau Constitutional Club 45 Malpas Road Newport NP20 5 PJ
Fri 11th April D&S Woodman Folk Ashwood Marina, Ashwood Lower Lane, Kingswinford, DY6 0AQ
Wed 30th April KD
Banbury Folk
Wed 21 May D&S
Chequers FC
The Barn, Cherry Tree Farm, Missenden Rd, Great Kingshill, HP15 6ED
Tue 3 June KD
St Neots FC
Eatons Community Centre, 18 The Maltings, Eaton Socon, St. Neots PE19 8ES, UK
12 - 13 July TBC
D&S
Ely Folk Festival
18-19 July TBC
D&S
Folk at the Edge
Sun 20 July TBC
D&S
Stainsby Festival
24-27 July
D&S
Warwick Folk Festival
8-10 Aug KD
Dartmoor Folk Festival
Sat 6 Sept KD
Alvechurch
(Corporate event)
11-14 Sept D&S
Bromyard Folk Festival
Donnelly & South's Christmas Cracker 2025
Starts Here!
Sat 29 Nov
The Glove at Hay
Newport Street, Hay on Wye, Hereford, HR3 5BG