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Golden age for Irish comedy - Whose next?

whiskeyman

Looking at the Vodafone Comedy Festival lineup, there's many of the same Irish acts there that would have made the very first one over 10 years ago or so:

Tommy Tiernan
Jason Byrne
Neil Delamare
Deirdre O'Kane

Add in some other big Irish acts that all seemed to hit big around the same time 20 years ago.
The International Bar Comedy Club was setup around then and probably was a springboard to many acts like:
Des Bishop
Ed Byrne
David O'Doherty
Dara O'Briain
The Apres Match lads
I'll even through in PJ Gallagher into the mix!
Comedy clubs were brilliant then and the Irish comedians were on top of their game.

Sure, we mightn't be fans of some of the above, but they all did very well for themselves!

However, I really don't know any Irish comedians hitting big over the past 10 years?
Alison Spittle?

Did those comedians above just come at a time when we needed them most?
The economy was just about the roar and there was plenty of material about hard times growing up / emigration and simple life stories.

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Strumms

Gary Lynch would be pretty funny.

whiskeyman

Liam O wrote: »

I've not seen them live but Shane Clifford and Tony Cantwell are funny enough on Instagram/Facebook so I'd have hope for them.

Never heard of them, but I'm not on either.
I wonder do they do comedy clubs?
Actually, do comedy clubs do the same level of business?
Has the internet diluted the quality of comedy out there?

Deleted User wrote: »

Chris Kent is pretty great

Who? Never heard. He mostly online?

The Princess Bride wrote: »

Foil, Arms and Hog, the best comedians to come out of Ireland in years!

I actually did mean to mention these guys. Seem to be the only successful act I can think of over past 10 years.

greenspurs

Sorry about that wrote: »

You're the only poster to bring up sexism in this thread.

And ?

Am I wrong?

:rolleyes:

Sorry about that

greenspurs wrote: »

And ?

Am I wrong? :rolleyes:

Here you are- plenty of (accurate) criticism towards female comics and nobody calling misogyny.

rireland

Noveight wrote: »

That Sir Stevo and his wannabe wag would rot you. His Farmer Michael bit is brutal and he’s got nothing else.

I agree his act is overdone etc. BUT I can at least acknowledge he has an act.

His girlfriend is just the one replying to him yet she acts like she's part of the act. Lady, you're not funny, HE'S the one with the act, not you.

rireland

Say Your Number wrote: »

Don't think Alison Spittle is that bad, can't understand the pure venom she brings out in some people.

I genuinely thought she was disabled when I heard her on the radio so much. I thought this was RTE doing their bit for inclusivity but I was wrong, apparantly she is not.

Infernal Racket

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

He's not regarded as a comedian but I reckon Paul Howard is the funniest man in Ireland.

Times 10, he's a comic writing genius

Naos

Jimmy Carr has done well.

Mad_maxx

rireland wrote: »

I genuinely thought she was disabled when I heard her on the radio so much. I thought this was RTE doing their bit for inclusivity but I was wrong, apparantly she is not.

Apparently she's a settled traveller so that explains the constant RTE gigs

horseofstone

riclad wrote: »

This is not just an irish thing, every year famous popstars and actors from the 70,s and 80,s are dying.
Its strange ,in the last 10 years we have,nt seen any new famous irish comedians, the 90s , aughties, produced a flood of irish comedians
who were even successful in the uk to some degree .
Alison spittle is the only new comedian i can think of since 2008 .

I always thought that to be regarded as a comedian one has to be funny...Alison Spittle is painfully boring and dry.

Stop moaning ffs

Jason Byrne should be put on a rock and launched into the sun.

Peurile hyperactive nonsense isn’t comedy

squawker

greenspurs wrote: »

And youd have all the usual suspects retweeting your comment... sexist pig, metoo etc...….

Never liked any female standup comedian, they are simply not funny

But scripted comedy from the likes of Caroline O'Hearne can be quite good

Stop moaning ffs

squawker wrote: »

Never liked any female standup comedian, they are simply not funny

But scripted comedy from the likes of Caroline O'Hearne can be quite good

So Joan rivers isn’t one of the greats of comedy?

lintdrummer

The Rubber Bandits could be considered comedians.

skimpydoo

Why has nobody mentioned Ireland's biggest comedian at the moment who is regularly seen on the worlds stage? That comedian is Leo Varadkar.

EmmetSpiceland

lintdrummer wrote: »

The Rubber Bandits could be considered comedians.

No, I think they’re above all that now. They’d be “artistes”, well, one of them is anyway.

Mad_maxx

squawker wrote: »

Never liked any female standup comedian, they are simply not funny

But scripted comedy from the likes of Caroline O'Hearne can be quite good

Joan rivers was funny

Mad_maxx

lintdrummer wrote: »

The Rubber Bandits could be considered comedians.

Might have been once, full time professional SJW, s now

[Deleted User]

Deleted User wrote: »

Chris Kent is pretty great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIcD8BmJMgw

Third_Echelon

Quite a few of the later generation have moved abroad to try and establish themselves outside of Ireland. Maeve Higgins and Des Bishop both live in New York as far as I know.

There are definitely a few different mediums for comedians. The classic stand up suits certain types. Others are better at story telling and creating a show around that. Others are better suited to the scripted 'sitcom' type format. I don't think one medium is superior over the other. There are lots of different ways to be funny.

For me anyway, the one comedian that crosses all mediums/genres is Dylan Moran. He's a genius!

I've been living abroad for the last few years and I hadn't seen the 'Bridget & Eamonn' TV series until a few weeks ago when it was put on Amazon Prime Video in the US. When I had heard it was getting a sitcom type show in Ireland, I didn't think it had enough legs to create that many episodes. I have to say, it was genuinely funny. Many laugh out loud moments for me. Loved it!

Edgware

Third_Echelon wrote: »

Quite a few of the later generation have moved abroad to try and establish themselves outside of Ireland. Maeve Higgins and Des Bishop both live in New York as far as I know.

There are definitely a few different mediums for comedians. The classic stand up suits certain types. Others are better at story telling and creating a show around that. Others are better suited to the scripted 'sitcom' type format. I don't think one medium is superior over the other. There are lots of different ways to be funny.

For me anyway, the one comedian that crosses all mediums/genres is Dylan Moran. He's a genius!

I've been living abroad for the last few years and I hadn't seen the 'Bridget & Eamonn' TV series until a few weeks ago when it was put on Amazon Prime Video in the US. When I had heard it was getting a sitcom type show in Ireland, I didn't think it had enough legs to create that many episodes. I have to say, it was genuinely funny. Many laugh out loud moments for me. Loved it!

This post is about comedians so why are people posting about Des Bishop

maximoose

No love for the Viper?

Woke Hogan

skimpydoo wrote: »

Why has nobody mentioned Ireland's biggest comedian at the moment who is regularly seen on the worlds stage? That comedian is Leo Varadkar.

Yuck.

JohnnyFlash

Went to see David O’Doherty last week at the comedy festival. He was hilarious.

touts

lintdrummer wrote: »

The Rubber Bandits could be considered comedians.

They were but they disappeared up their own holes a few years ago. Blindboy has a podcast that has some good elements in relation to the mental health aspects but the "comedy" is too weird to make any sense. As a result I don't think I would call them comedians any more. More social campaigners now.

touts

The Princess Bride wrote: »

Foil, Arms and Hog, the best comedians to come out of Ireland in years!

Agree with this. Plus Fupping Eegits and The two Jonnies. Facebook seems to be where comedians are launching themselves now. But that is getting crowded with absolute rubbish. For example Rory's Stories and his girlfriend are woeful. How many times can you do the same sketch which seems to always be about being hungover.

mfceiling

touts wrote: »

Agree with this. Plus Fupping Eegits and The two Jonnies. Facebook seems to be where comedians are launching themselves now. But that is getting crowded with absolute rubbish. For example Rory's Stories and his girlfriend are woeful. How many times can you do the same sketch which seems to always be about being hungover.

Neither Foil, Arms and Hog, the 2 johnnies, or Rory's stories can be classed as comedians.

Autecher

I just had a look At the Twitter & Instagram of Maeve Higgins. She seems to mainly do podcasts and writing now, she has just released a comedy series on Audible about immigrants.I never thought she was a good comedian but I still liked her from the interviews I saw of her, she seemed like a fun upbeat person. She has also gone full on SJW, I mean she really has embraced it. She is tweeting about Syria, Trump, hate speech etc...

kikilarue2

There's a huge amount of stand-up going on in Dublin at the moment. Pretty much any night of the week there's 2-3 different shows on, most of them free. Now, a lot of them are people who are just starting out and/or don't have the raw talent to make it on the national stage but some of the regular headliners are absolutely hilarious - my own favourites would include Jim Elliott, Emma Doran, Damien Clarke, Julie Jay and Davey Reilly.

Joanne McNally certainly deserves a mention, and Aisling Bea. Catherine Hobart was at the Vodafone Comedy Festival and I thought she was very good for someone early in her career - very funny but her nerves showed through a bit, that'll go with time. I also think Amy Huberman should give comedy a go- she's hilarious.

[Deleted User]

kikilarue2 wrote: »

I also think Amy Huberman should give comedy a go- she's hilarious.

If you mean "unintentionally" hilarious, her acting chops are laughable.