By Ian DoneganHow’s she cuttin’?Good (laughs). She’s fine!You went to art college, do youhave any mad stories about that?I didn’t spend too long in college, it was madenough. We had a couple of mad trips during R.A.G.week. We went on a college trip to Carlow and gotmad drunk, as you do, and we found a fella thereand we brought him back to Limerick with us! Hewoke up in Limerick the following morning likewhere the fuck am I!? First year in college is alwaysgood craic.
Yourself and Jon Kennypractically dominatedIrish comedy in the nineties,why do you think thatwas?I suppose in Ireland, myself and Jon weretouring more than any other comedy act.I suppose a lot of the guys in the earlynineties were going to England. Comicstended to go to England after Father Tedand the whole lot. While myself and Jondid work over in Edinburgh and London,Ireland was definitely our main stay. SoI suppose we did kinda dominate it to adegree.You obviously have manymemories of touring withJon, does anything in particularstand out?I remember the early days touringaround with Jon, there was a sense ofanarchy about what we were doing. Iwas 18, Jon was 28 so the first couple ofyears we were tearin’ up and down thecountry in a van, giggin’ everywhere andanywhere, it was absolutely mad craicdoin’ the kind of gigs where you’d headup the country and end up stayin’ overnight and then go missing for two orthree days! We had a great time the twoof us.What drove you into comedy?Were you the classclown?I was always messin’. I suppose that sideof me came out with Jon and we startedwriting some sketches and havin’ a bit ofcraic together. Then we started performingit on stage and that’s how I got intoit. After a couple of years of doing thatevery night of the week, it evolved, asopposed to me making a conscience decisionthat I wanted to be a comedian.Has comedy changedsince then?Comedy’s changed a lot. It’s like anything,it goes through peaks and troughs.When I started working with Jon in thelate eighties there was practically nocomedy around the country. There werea few like Niell Tobin and Brendan Gracewho were touring the country and thatwas it really. But then came The Internationalbar which established this newstand-up scene in the early nineties. Butthere was a time when there were veryfew stand up comics touring there countrybut now there’s a load of them, so Ithink it’s a really healthy time at the moment.Do you have a favouritecomedian?I like Tommy Tiernan’s work, but DylanMoran is probably my favourite. I wouldhave to say Dylan is king of the standup.You’re obviously a veryhard working man, butwhat do you do in yourspare time?I do work a lot, so when I get time off Itend to do nothing! If I can sit in a boatand do a bit of fishing, that suits me perfect.The film garage was differentto your usual gig,what attracted you to thatpart?Well, the guys approached me whenthey had the idea for it and there wasa couple of things that appealed to me.One was the people involved. You hadLenny Abrahamson directing, Mark OHalloran writing and Ed Guiney producing.It was very exciting that they pickedme out for the part, but the fact that Iknew their credentials was even moreexciting.Did you find the transitionfrom comedian to actordifficult?Garage was a tough film and it was atough and challenging part. But I supposeif you want to do something anddo it right and put 100% into it, it’s alwaysgoing to be tough no matter whatyou do. But that was a draining part, actingis a tough gig.Do you think you wouldbe drawn to a serious actingrole again?Yeah, there are a couple of interestingprojects out there at the moment thatI’m looking at. Of course I’d be delightedto get involved in another film againwhen the right one comes along.What was the inspirationbehind the song ‘JumboBreakfast Roll’?Well, I was putting a show together atthe time and one character was a builder.It reminded me of a sketch I did withD’unbelievables about a kid in a sweetshop.The whole idea being that you’rein a queue to get something and youjust happened to be behind some kidwith 20p. He’s got every right to standthere asking “how much are those” tryingto get value for his money. It’s hilariousand frustrating. At the same time, Iwas writing the show about the builder,it came back to me. When I went into thefilling-station there were about 50 highvisibilityjackets in front of me with guysgoing, gimme two sausages on that, twopuddin’, rasher, yeah, eggs and sauce, Iwant red or brown sauce and coffee. Itwas the same thing, but with builders.You’re doing a tour at themoment, aren’t you?Yeah, I’m touring with the Hall. Then I’mgearing up for a TV series we’re shootingover the summer, Mattie, for RTE. The pilotwent out Christmas night and it got ahuge response. RTE were delighted withit so they’re looking at making a seriesout of it. So I’ll be doing that over thesummer.Entertainment45
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