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Tommy Tiernan: To Tell You The Truth

2

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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,605 ✭✭✭yipeeeee


    Cosmo2013 wrote: »
    Kind of of is true though. What's with all this shouting?!

    I suggest you watch cracked and loose.

    Pure genius.

    This show is just awkward and really doesn't show what he is made of.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,758 ✭✭✭Strongbow10


    His chat with Gay Byrne on 'The Meaning of Life' was possibly my favourite episode of that series. I didn't think I'd be keen on him at all - but he was a revelation. I wonder is comedy a bit too trivial for him, now? I mean, does he sort of despise himself for 'just' being a stand-up comic?

    He is a real gentleman, but does strike me as a fella who is very unfulfilled with selling out vicar street 10 nights in a row.

    He is very bohemian in his ways, but there is an element of the pseudo intellectual about him, he gets very deep in his story telling and descriptions and goes over a lot of people's heads, not because it's beyond the normal mans comprehension, but more so because he doesn't articulate his thoughts as well as he could, so sounds like gibberish from time to time


  • Registered Users Posts: 587 ✭✭✭L'Enfer du Nord


    He really reminds of a person in the work place who has decided they just don't give a dam anymore. He said at one point that a bunch of Irish guys in the audience were treating him like a substitute teacher. He reminded me of a teacher alright, but more like one who is replaced by a substitute half way through term after cracking up because he can't face teaching students how to spew out three pages on the failures of the French 3rd Republic for the 20th time in 20 years.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 665 ✭✭✭Aubrey loves Joe


    Some of his DVD are decent but that was awful muck. Hard to watch.


  • Registered Users Posts: 81 ✭✭castor 1


    He really reminds of a person in the work place who has decided they just don't give a dam anymore. He said at one point that a bunch of Irish guys in the audience were treating him like a substitute teacher. He reminded me of a teacher alright, but more like one who is replaced by a substitute half way through term after cracking up because he can't face teaching students how to spew out three pages on the failures of the French 3rd Republic for the 20th time in 20 years.

    Don't we all get a bit like that after many years working. It can be hard to maintain the same enthusiasm all the time.

    What is laudable is that he would persist with something so difficult for 11 sessions without any 'safety net'.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 369 ✭✭RichardoKhan


    So what is the thing about Vegas comedy clubs after all?


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,850 ✭✭✭FouxDaFaFa


    I missed the first 10 minutes or so of it but I liked it overall.

    I liked that it wasn't constant laughs because comedy isn't always like that. I mean, undertaking a tour of improvised stand-up shows? It's a bit mad and you're bound to be plagued by self-doubt if you do it and you'll probably get too into your own head analysing the shows but that's how a lot of standups work.

    I don't think he knocked the majority of the gigs out of the park but it's an interesting concept. We are too used to extremely rehearsed, scripted comedy that anything other than that makes us uncomfortable.

    It was nicely shot, stayed just on the edge of being too pretentious and gave a little insight into something interesting while being harmless.

    Compared to some of the horrifying dross RTE has come up with for the new schedule, it was Citizen Kane.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 829 ✭✭✭smellmepower


    Like an unfunny, inarticulate Stewart Lee.

    Tommy may be the nicest guy in the world or whatever (never met him), but he has some neck charging people money for whatever it was that he was doing on stage in that documentary. Shocking stuff.

    He should stick to his vulgar shouty routines, as he's obviously not clever enough to pull off this 'deep' philosophical persona he's aiming for.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 16 Angel Knightess


    I think it was really brave what he did. It may not have completely worked but if you don't at least try, then how are you to know what might work and what doesn't. Besides on a serious note is there anything more annoying than going to see a comedian rehash all the jokes he's told before on tv and such.

    I wouldn't laugh out loud at a lot of comedians, only in rare cases but I wouldn't go about slagging them off. Its a tough business appearing in different venues here, there and everywhere and sometimes getting a poor reaction after all that.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,330 ✭✭✭Morgans


    As a show it was good, and as a concept for a comedy show it was interesting. However I didnt pay the money to go to the show expecting laughs and the idea of doing it is self-indulgent (something he mentioned himself in the programme).

    Sure he is only getting rid of the material and asking the audience to like him (again something he mentioned in the programme). It feels like he is trying to work through his depression.

    I hope he finds some happiness somewhere, and the improvised stuff is still better than slagging off foreigners/travellers accents on the late late as was the case a few years ago.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 6,731 ✭✭✭Fowler87


    His chat with Gay Byrne on 'The Meaning of Life' was possibly my favourite episode of that series. I didn't think I'd be keen on him at all - but he was a revelation. I wonder is comedy a bit too trivial for him, now? I mean, does he sort of despise himself for 'just' being a stand-up comic?
    Exactly just going down a different route in his career. Only Tommy would have the nerve to try what he did in the documentary. Thought it was fascinating myself. Man is a genius


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 829 ✭✭✭smellmepower


    Fowler87 wrote: »
    Exactly just going down a different route in his career. Only Tommy would have the nerve to try what he did in the documentary. Thought it was fascinating myself. Man is a genius

    Plenty of comics have the nerve to try what Tommy did, only they had the added bonus of their material actually being somewhat funny. To make him out to be some brave new trend setter is rubbish, when his new 'act' mainly consisted of whispering, saying "eh" a lot and then resorting to swearing when the audience started to get fed up watching nothing.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,304 ✭✭✭Lucena


    I saw him about 15 years ago in Manchester, having seen him a couple of times on the telly before that. The show lasted a good hour and a half, and he was very relaxed and funny.

    He did one skit about how Irish people are more relaxed than the English, for example if a fire alarm goes off in a pub/club in England, people will leave, whereas in Ireland someone’ll go “Is that my mobile”. Barely 30 seconds later (as I remember it), the fire alarm did go off, to great cheers and laughter. Someone had to come out on stage to get us to evacuate, as we thought it was part of the show! After about 30 minutes in the cold, we went back in, and Tommy managed to integrate the event into the show, saying how he was shocked that he had to stand outside with the rest of us, and that he didn’t have his own special VIP bunker to protect him.

    I’ve seen of couple of his DVDs since then, and unfortunately he just seems to have gone very shouty. It’s possible he’s just run out of ideas, but it’s probably too difficult to change careers now, so he’s stuck doing comedy.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,313 ✭✭✭✭Sam Kade


    I can't understand how anyone finds him funny :confused:


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 15,676 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tabnabs


    He fairly lashed the German's out of it from the stage in Berlin. I'd say they were wondering what branch of comedy that rant belonged to?

    As said before, it could have been editing, but he looked to be dying a fairly empty and incoherent death on stage most nights, mixed in with episodes of hilarity/insanity. When he jumped off the stage and started opening the doors to the foyer to get people to the bar because he had no real material, his manager should have book a ticket home for poor Tommy at that point.

    The Vegas story that he couldn't get out, was it that the last act of the night is so poor that people just get up and leave rather than stay for the "comedy"? It seemed to be what he was implying.


  • Registered Users Posts: 21,444 ✭✭✭✭Skid X


    Fowler87 wrote: »
    Exactly just going down a different route in his career. Only Tommy would have the nerve to try what he did in the documentary. Thought it was fascinating myself. Man is a genius

    It's not unheard of for performers to change direction. But they shouldn't expect the public to pay full price to humour a man who appears to have no intention of delivering anything which could be vaguely described as entertaining.

    When comedians are trying out new material, they do unannounced unpaid low key performances at Comedy Clubs. Tommy Tiernan should have tried something similar. He can be a very good comedian at times but this was pure self indulgence.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,084 ✭✭✭✭Kirby


    He's a poor comedian. Stories about how nice he is are great, but it doesn't matter how nice he is if he isn't funny. And he's not. Shouting and cursing isn't comedy.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,784 ✭✭✭ShagNastii


    It was painful watching alright. He has been gigging for over 25 years I’m sure it didn’t take him a tour to realise he can’t improv a show. Ross Noble, Dara O Briain and countless others can but that is just their way they do shows comedy. There was a reason Tommy seldom went on the panel, he is not an off the cusp guy. He used to be a Milton Jones-esqure joking fool then he morphed into a shouty poetic storyteller which when he was on form produced some hilarious stuff. I have tickets for one of his upcoming shows and I pray he has written a show. If not, it will be as flat as a pancake and the crowd will turn sour ASAP. None of this whispering b*llocks or shouting and blinding for the sack of it- a proper well written show.

    He was drinking in the show. I know he wasn’t drinking for an age. Does anyone know if he has stated he is an alcoholic?


  • Registered Users Posts: 13 WindowWaver


    Just ask yourself when was the last time you went to an actual comedy gig. Ireland has heaps more talent than him. the show was ok, not amazing but he was a great comedian. now he needs to shout to be funny.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,552 ✭✭✭Cartman78


    Lasted about 25 mins of this last night....hard to classify it as "bad" or "good" imho but I just simply wasn't in the mood for it.

    Not really sure what the point of this programme was tbh....came across as a wannabe existentialist art project which is all good and well but doesn't necessarily make for quality prime time viewing on a Monday night

    There was one great tracking shot through the audience at one gig (possibly Helsinki).....a few people were staring blankly, one guy was asleep and everyone else was laughing nervously, desperately waiting for a punchline of some sort but all they got was TT whispering "Sure, fcuucccccccccck it...it's mad isn't it" :confused:


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  • Registered Users Posts: 51,118 ✭✭✭✭tayto lover


    Didn't find this funny at all.
    It's a poor comedian who has to rely on swearing to get a laugh.

    I think Tommy is in a bad place at the moment and needs a career change.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,975 ✭✭✭conorhal


    His chat with Gay Byrne on 'The Meaning of Life' was possibly my favourite episode of that series. I didn't think I'd be keen on him at all - but he was a revelation. I wonder is comedy a bit too trivial for him, now? I mean, does he sort of despise himself for 'just' being a stand-up comic?

    I call it the 'serious comic' disease, sooner or later a certian type of comedian begins to think that they should 'do something' with the platform that success has offered them and their jokes become more sparce as their pompus, hectoring diatribes grow longer. Like Eddie Izzard and Bill Bailey he seems to have forgotten that the political or social diatribe needs a punchline or he might as well be ranting in After Hours.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,759 ✭✭✭enricoh


    Saw him in citywest this year and had a great laugh, got dragged along by the missus n was it was really good .
    Fair balls to him trying it- but I felt it was a way of torturing himself. The concentration camp bit was meltdown stuff.
    A lot of it could' a been down to the editor?


  • Registered Users Posts: 21,444 ✭✭✭✭Skid X


    Tommy Tiernan is on with Ray Darcy now talking about the show.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,872 ✭✭✭paulbok


    RoryMac wrote: »
    I think the lady worried he was having a break-down might have hit the nail on the head

    I half expected to hear Radiohead playing when he was on the bus.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,559 ✭✭✭✭AnonoBoy


    ShagNastii wrote: »
    It was painful watching alright. He has been gigging for over 25 years I’m sure it didn’t take him a tour to realise he can’t improv a show. Ross Noble, Dara O Briain and countless others can but that is just their way they do shows comedy.

    Dara O'Briain does not improv a whole show. He improvs the 'talk to the crowd' section, the rest is tightly scripted.

    Beyond Ross Noble (and even he has scripted sections for when the improv runs out of steam) I can't think of a single comedian who improvs a full show. They might make it seem as they're doing it but they're generally just working improvised stuff into their standard routines.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,605 ✭✭✭yipeeeee


    ShagNastii wrote: »
    It was painful watching alright. He has been gigging for over 25 years I’m sure it didn’t take him a tour to realise he can’t improv a show. Ross Noble, Dara O Briain and countless others can but that is just their way they do shows comedy. There was a reason Tommy seldom went on the panel, he is not an off the cusp guy. He used to be a Milton Jones-esqure joking fool then he morphed into a shouty poetic storyteller which when he was on form produced some hilarious stuff. I have tickets for one of his upcoming shows and I pray he has written a show. If not, it will be as flat as a pancake and the crowd will turn sour ASAP. None of this whispering b*llocks or shouting and blinding for the sack of it- a proper well written show.

    He was drinking in the show. I know he wasn’t drinking for an age. Does anyone know if he has stated he is an alcoholic?

    Have been to a few of his recent shows.

    He has cut out all the shouting stuff and I believe his material is back to his best.

    He went through a bad period a while back regards his shows but he is back in form.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,605 ✭✭✭yipeeeee


    This shouting and cursing thing has stuck after a period a few years ago.

    If anyone has watched loose cracked and his recent material they will realise this.


  • Registered Users Posts: 54,495 ✭✭✭✭walshb


    Every second word is a curse, there are no laughs, and the show seems like the sort of breakdown you have in front of your therapist..

    Cannot stand this. It seems that society in general has gone this way. People swearing and cursing without any shame. It's not funny in comedy. Ok, every so often swear word helps, and can really make a story, but the incessant swearing is just crass.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,784 ✭✭✭ShagNastii


    paulbok wrote: »
    I half expected to hear Radiohead playing when he was on the bus.

    Somebody posted the Shaft theme this morning on his FB and told him to cheer up.


This discussion has been closed.
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