 the test for the sanitation, the fire department, and the NYPD. And at that stage, New York was laying off cops and firemen. So I wasn't able to take the test, so I went and got my hack license thinking I'd just use it for a couple of years till the economy changes, but then life takes over. And now it's been four decades and two centuries that I've been driving and I just tell the mad stories and some of the mad situations I was put in and tell the stories. Well, you can't drive a taxi in New York for 40 years and not have some brilliant stories to tell. Overall, is it like the taxi we saw on TV all those years ago with Danny DeVito or is it much more sanitized and much more organized? Well, what that show was more about hanging out in the garage and the interaction among other drivers. My play would be the interaction out on the streets and because of the internet and everything, it's not that famous people got into my camp but famous people got in touch with me like the BBC with Stephen Fry and Richard Hammond, which is why I think the play is more relevant here in Ireland because you guys know Stephen Fry and Richard Hammond, whereas in New York they didn't really know who they were. And I talk about taking, you know, it was so bizarre, here's Stephen Fry who's hanging out with the Queen and he's at a mob club in Queens talking to the guys about, you know, fixing races and running the numbers and gambling and stuff like that. He's going, oh my, oh my. I mean, then Richard Hammond from Top Gear who drives for a living and I'm teaching him how to drive. So I had the actual videos of both documentaries so because otherwise people might not believe me. But then I showed the video and they said, oh my God, he did hang out with these guys. How did you progress from being a taxi driver with, you know, some stories to tell, to having a play and taking a one man show on the road? Well, it started with, you know, after work with other cabbies going to a local bar in Manhattan, Rocky Sullivan's on Lexington Avenue. And we were just telling stories and then I got accepted by the Fringe Festival in New York City and I got some awards there. But then my friend Maliki McCourt called the Irish Repertory Theater, Karen O'Reilly, who runs, you know, one of the most well known off-roadway theaters and he took it on and he brought Broadway people in. So they brought in, you know, stage people, they brought in sound people, lighting people and they crafted the stories into an off-road way play. And that's what I've been using ever since. So I had three months there. I sold out. So I've been taking it up to Boston, all around New York and the Bronx and Brooklyn. And now finally to Dublin and up to Donegal. Yeah, brilliant. And when you're over here in Ireland as well, you're going to, you're going to have a couple of pints again as but they're, they're, they're sort of, they're on the house. Tell us the story behind that. Well, what happened was nine years ago, I had this guy in the cab. It's four in the morning. He didn't have the full fare. So he tells me he owns a bar in Dublin. I said, yeah, everybody owns a bar in Dublin. So he writes on it, on a piece of paper that, go to Gaffney and Sons and tell him I sent you, and he wrote this and give him two free pints again. So normally when I come to Ireland, is I land in Dublin and I rent the car and come up to Donegal. I never really stay in Dublin. So now I was bringing the play over and I'm saying, you know what? Finally time to claim my two pints to Guinness. So that, that's how the ball started rolling. And then the day I landed in Dublin, I got an email from Guinness saying, uh, we would like your presence at the Guinness storehouse. Can you come by for a free tour in free Guinness? If you're available. I said, if I'm available, are you kidding me? They sent a cab over, brought me there, and then I did all the national media down in Dublin, and it's been a whirlwind since then. It's just, it's just, it hasn't stopped. So tell me about all those years driving the taxi in New York. Is it, you know, suppose here we think of it as a, as a rather dangerous occupation because you just don't know who's going to get into your taxi and it's in New York City and you just don't know what's going to come at you. But it's, it's not really like that, is it? It's not so much like that now because of the technology. It's credit cards. So you don't carry the cash that people would want to rob you. But I, I'll just give you quickly this one story. I had a guy get in and this is in the seventies and eighties and he says he's going to Avenue B and eight street, which we called the alphabet jungle. And when you go down to Avenue B, it was all burnt out buildings. And he said, hey, listen, can you pull over here? You pull over. He said, just wait for me. I'm going to go into the building. I'll be out in five minutes. So now you were going to wait because you weren't going to pick up anybody in the Lower East Side. So I'm waiting there looking out the window next thing the guy's flying out of the building. He's got a gun in one hand and a bag of dope. He jumps in the car and he's go, go, go, go. So now I'm a wheel man in a drug deal, but this is not so bad because guys that rob drug dealers tend to tip better. So, you know, it's, it's situations like that that you get involved with back then, which you wouldn't have now because there's probably an app that you can order your drugs and haven't delivered to your house. So the cabs are not even used for that anymore. So did you get a good tip? Hello? Did you get a good tip? Yeah, hello? Yeah, did you get a good tip on that occasion? Oh, yeah, I did. I did. He had plenty of money because you probably robbed the drug dealer of the money and the drugs. Yeah. Isn't the show is being described as taking theater goers and one hell of a ride. It's, it's a multimedia show. So it's not not a case just you on stage with with the Mike telling stories, but more to it than that. No, it's 70 minutes with no intermission. But it's me telling the story that sets up the video or the news clipping behind me. And that's what it's about. And it actually gives me a break when the video is playing that I can get a drink of water and then start the next story. But it's very interactive and very quick pace. Great. Well, listen, we look forward to it. It's just coming Saturday night. It's in Bali Shannon, the Abbey Center. And if anyone's looking for tickets, AbbeyCenter.ie is called off the meter on the record played by John McDonough. John, thank you very much. John, I hope people can get south of the Bonnismore Gap into Bali Shannon, because I hear it's tough for people in North Unigol to get through the gap. So far, no visas required. Thanks, John. Good luck, dear. All right, thank you. Hello, I'm David Fordy, Medical Herbalist. Are you suffering with a cold flu or sinusitis?