Interview: Karl Broderick, pantomime writer and producer

Karl Broderick got into the pantomime game in 1997, and hasn’t looked back since. The trick, he says, is to have something for everybody in the audience, young and old

Karl Broderick: ‘The traditional fairytale has to be the backbone of the pantomime.’ Picture: Fergal Phillips

Karl Broderick never went to the pantomime as a child. He was more interested in watching old Hollywood films, particularly Laurel and Hardy ones. “They were the kings of slapstick comedy,” he says.

So when Broderick started a relationship with Alan Hughes, who was starring in a pantomime at the time, he became intrigued.

“When we met, Alan said he worked in the entertainment industry and I just thought, ‘Oh yeah, right.’ But then he ...