Laughterwards

Given the feast of top class comedy on offer in 2002, the bar has been set intimidatingly high for comedians setting out to make their mark over the next twelve months. Last year we had Ricky Gervais ensuring his immortality with one of the all-time great comic anti-heroes in The Office, The League Of Gentlemen delivering another satanic masterpiece in the shape of their third series, and Peter Kay quietly displaying his genius credentials with his brilliantly off-kilter run of provincial character studies, Phoenix Nights.

“I think the success of those shows was quite a significant watershed in TV comedy,” says David O’Doherty, a hugely promising Irish comedian who earned widespread acclaim last year for his performance at the Edinburgh fringe. “You take something like The Office, that was originally conceived as a low-budget BBC 2 show, and then it gets the highest ratings of any show last year. It’s nice that people might now be prepared to take more of a risk with TV comedy. Another big change in that area has been the advent of digital. You look at The Office, Paths To Freedom, Bachelor’s Walk - it’s now possible to make something that’s broadcast quality by yourself.”

For the moment, O’Doherty himself remains content to concentrate on the live arena, in addition to his day-job as a writer of children’s books. As someone who has worked the comedy festivals, what does David make of the current state of stand-up comedy?

“There’s an exciting thing going on in comedy at the moment,” he replies. “Because stand-up on this side of the Atlantic developed with the alternative thing that started on Saturday Night Live in the mid-eighties, at this stage the alternative style has almost become the mainstream. But now you’re finding that there’s actually a backlash against that, and people are going off on their own, and creating almost like an indie movement within comedy. I mean, there were some incredible shows in Edinburgh this year – people like Noel Fielding, who’s one half of a great team called the Boosh, and Daniel Kitson, who won the Perrier Award. They’re not everyone’s cup of tea and they don’t try to be. And that’s really good.”

From the young pretender to the veteran performer. As half of the D’unbelievables and now as a solo act, Pat Shortt has consistently been one of the biggest draws in the country for close to a decade. As such he has had an interesting perspective on the changing landscape of Irish comedy. What are his thoughts on the current scene?

“It’s not that bad,” he begins, somewhat hesitantly. “There’s good comedians out there. I’ve used a lot of comedians over the past while as support acts – Deirdre O’Kane, Joe Rooney, Brendan Dempsey, Eddie Bannon. I must say I was blown away by a lot of their material. For a lot of them, it was the first time they’d played those kind of venues down the country, hotels and theatres and so forth. It was interesting to see that some of them were nervous going on, because obviously it was a different environment to a club gig. And yet, they were received very well by the audience.”

So what are Pat’s own plans for 2003?

“Well, I’ve got a lot of projects on the go this year. There’s the tour at the moment, and I’ve a video to do for Sony – I’m hoping to shoot that in the summer. I’m also working with RTE on a pilot for a comedy show in September. And last but not least, I’m doing my column for the Farmer’s Journal! It’s in the guise of Maurice Hickey, my character from Xit File. It’s a total spoof, but great craic to write.”

And finally at the end, we go back to the beginning. The original Navan man, Tommy Tiernan, has no doubts about which of his peers he’s most interested in seeing this year.

“David O’Doherty and David McSavage,” he enthuses. “McSavage is so fearless, it’s incredible. And David O’Doherty is almost like the Irish Andy Kaufman. Innocent and lovely, but with a great sense of adventure. (Pause) Jesus, that sounds like a poster quote, doesn’t it?!”

Given the emergence of the new generation of Irish comedians, Tiernan is practically approaching godfather status. Has he developed a philosophy on his profession over the years?

“I dunno, I guess it’s more or less exploring your own imagination while you’re up on stage,” he muses. “And to try and feel comfortable doing that, and to do it in a way that is… bountiful. It doesn’t always work, but you’ve got to try and do it creatively. I mean, there’s this philosopher/poet man I know, who goes around giving talks on the state of the soul. And I met someone who was at a talk he gave recently, and he had the assembled crowd in tears of laughter by playing an invisible violin. Things like that inspire me. I’m always looking for inspiration. And girls to follow!”