King David

David O’Doherty has become one of the hottest properties in stand-up after scooping this year’s if.comedy award, the influential prize which, back when it was known as the Perrier Award, launched the careers of such luminaries Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Steve Coogan, The League Of Gentlemen, Dylan Moran and many others. However, whilst O’Doherty now finds himself fielding calls from all manner of television and radio producers, the laidback comedian appears to be taking the success in his stride.
“Awards in the arts are fundamentally ridiculous,” he muses, sitting backstage at the comedy tent at the Electric Picnic. “And yet, this one gets talked about a lot, particularly in the UK. I was initially somewhat cynical of it, because people mention your name in association with it, midway through the festival and what not. But the day after, you go for your official portrait for the award, and it’s the same portrait photographer who’s done it for the last 25 years.
“He says it’s his favourite portrait of the year, and he started telling me some stories about when he took it for Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. And then doing the ones with Steve Coogan, Demetri Martin and Daniel Kitson. That was the moment when it sort of hit, in terms of the pedigree of the people who’ve been lucky enough to win this award. So, you know, I just have to make sure I don’t stuff it all up now. All it really means is that it opens doors.
“I have a lot of ludicrous ideas, and in the past, people have not really wanted to listen to my ludicrous ideas. But now because of this award, I think people might be a bit more susceptible. In fact, they definitely are, because they’re talking to me already, and suddenly showing interest in lobster superheroes.”
O’Doherty had a hectic schedule at this year’s Fringe, where he performed three times a day (in addition to his own run, titled Let’s Comedy, he also participated in a children’s show with Maeve Higgins, and an improvised evening slot with Daniel Kitson, Andy Zaltzman and Alun Cochrane). Such a busy programme meant he didn’t get swept up in the hype surrounding his nomination for the award, which in any case he’d experienced before, having been shortlisted in 2006 for David O’Doherty Is My Name. But what happens when you actually win?
“The win is bananas,” says David. “Friends in America contacted me because it came up on the CNN news bar. It was like, ‘Earthquake in Peru, and someone you’ve never heard wins an award at a festival you’ve probably never heard of.’ It was announced, and Clive James gave me the award. Then I made a terrible speech. There was a photo of me giving the speech on the front of The Scotsman the next day, and I had headphones on and three coats, ‘cos I don’t really like those sorts of dos.
“You’re whisked off into a room where the world’s media are waiting. There are about ten cameras, and people from Reuters and AP and so on. So for one moment, you become news.”
Given the range of options now open to him, what does David plan to do next?
“There are a lot of offers for TV now,” he replies. “You have to be pretty careful what to do, because you get offered some terrible things. Already I’ve been approached with a show that was pitched as, ‘It’s like The Apprentice, but for children.’ That’s one of the darkest descriptions of a piece of entertainment I’ve ever heard!
“I’m making a pilot for BBC Radio 4; I’ve always been a massive Radio 4 fan. I grew up listening to Round The Horne, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and all of those things. In recent years, when you consider that Little Britain, The League Of Gentlemen and The Mighty Boosh have all started on Radio 4, it seems like a really good place to go.”
Speaking of the Boosh, David actually performed at the duo’s own festival earlier this year.
“I’ve been friends with Noel for years,” he explains. “In 2000, Noel and I did a tour around the more rural ITs of Munster, in one of the least well conceived pieces of comedy promotion in the history of the art form. A man went up to Noel at one stage, in Waterford I think, and said, ‘Stop! You’re fucking with my head!’ So it was nice to get the nod for that festival, just to go on with people like Matt Holness and the dudes who make Garth Marenghi, cos that’s the sort of comedy that I like.”
Did David have Noel and other such high profile friends sending him congratulatory texts after winning the award?
“Yeah, I got a got a good few texts from some unlikely people around the world,” he nods. “In 2002, I did a lot of stuff with Flight Of The Conchords. I played some piano with them and what not, so I’m in touch with them. In fact, on the shortlist for the award was Kristen Schall, who plays the stalker fan in the Conchords’ TV show. I won the Newcomers’ Award in Edinburgh in ’99, and it was an amazing list of people. It was me, Jimmy Carr, Russell Howard, Russell Brand, Andy Zaltzman and Josie Long. We’re all still friends today, so there’s a good camaraderie.”
Finally, it has to be noted that the launchpad for David’s success was quite clearly receiving the prestigious Hot Press Irish Comedian of the Year award in 2003, as selected by your correspondent.
“Wow, thank you very much Hot Press,” he chuckles. “You were there before anyone else had an inkling. There has been a kind of groundswell of people who really, really liked it from a very early stage. That’s what you think about after you’ve died on your hole at a gig somewhere in the north of England, that you never should have gone and done. You go, ‘There are definitely some people who find this funny. Please, where are you when I need you?! So, absolutely, getting that Hot Press thing – that all helps. So thank you very much Hot Press!”