Comedian PJ Gallagher has revealed his stage fright was so bad – he feared an audience member would shoot him during a show.
The Dublin funny man will be seen on an RTE 2 documentary tonight exploring his 20-year battle with stage fright and whether he can overcome it.
He said: “I was very sceptical before the documentary because I would have never believed anything could have helped me.
Fight: PJ struggling to go on stage | RTE
“The day of a gig I would be shaking. I wouldn’t be able to eat, wouldn’t be able to have conversations with people or what to say – I was a mess.
“It was a total phobia. At your worst you think someone is going to come in and shoot you or they’d be waiting for you outside or you might ruin the whole of the audience’s weekend.
“It was mad to think you were feeling all of this before you go on stage.”
No modesty: PJ stripped off
Viewers will see PJ being helped by neuro-linguistic programming – but the 4FM star isn’t over it just yet.
“I wouldn’t say I’m cured. I get nerves like I’m supposed to have but going on stage now is something I want to do whereas before I didn’t want to do it,” he told the Star.
“I was in such a panic before, now I’m more in control. It’s where I should be with the nerves. If you aren’t nervous there’d be something wrong with you – unless you are one of those cocky bastard comedian types.”
