Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all! We have been experiencing an issue on site where threads have been missing the latest postings. The platform host Vanilla are working on this issue. A workaround that has been used by some is to navigate back from 1 to 10+ pages to re-sync the thread and this will then show the latest posts. Thanks, Mike.
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Unfunny Irish comedians <<MOD note in OP>>

1356763

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,277 ✭✭✭Chris Martin


    Can't stand slapstick comedy and impressionists.
    Therefore was never going to fall in love with Rubberbandits or Rosenstock.
    Not a fan of Republic of Telly either, didn't like Podge and Rodge back in the day.

    Am a massive Dara fan, particularly when he's with Ed Byrne, although I'm not a huge fan of Ed on his own, they really do get the best out of each other.
    Tommy Tiernan's best days are sadly behind him, can tell even by his stand up shows.

    Am a big fan of comedians, like the clever, witty and sarcastic stuff.. never going to get people who like everyone, you can't force yourself to like someone.
    I tried so much to like Lee Evans but I really couldn't.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,113 ✭✭✭Mena Mitty


    mosstin wrote: »
    That PJ Gallagher has only been mentioned once is remarkable.

    Ha ha you mean ha ha P.J. ha ha Gallagher ha ha.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,000 ✭✭✭fizzypish


    My GF always looks at me funny when I say Brendan Grace is fantastic. I'm delighted he isn't getting shat on here. For what he does its brilliant. Niall Tobin had a great show too. I'm remember both of these fondly from childhood so I'm a bit biased. I seen Brendan Grace on the TV last X mass and thought it was still pretty good. A lot of Tommy bashing. His early stuff was excellent but he then went through a shouty phase. Anyone remember the show where he made the girl cry for taking a video of him on stage. That was not a funny show.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,300 ✭✭✭✭razorblunt


    Cake Man wrote: »
    The problem with Tommy Tiernan is that he hasn't changed anything since his glory days 10-15 years ago. Went to see him here in Sydney a few months ago and most of his stuff was the same sh!te he was going on about years ago, some even the EXACT same jokes.
    What's worse is he insists on doing more roaring, screaming and shouting which gets painfully cringeworthy after the first time and does this stupid thing where he hunches down nearly on his knees, what the fcuk is all that about?

    I saw him at the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in years last August and I thought he was very good. Sold out show too into the 3rd week, something seemed different about him too, a lot more relaxed.

    Ed Byrne would be my pick, he has a lot to be thankful for, then again Dara O'Briain is a big guy!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,023 ✭✭✭✭Joe_ Public


    Oliver Callan isn't the unfunniest comedian out there, that's a very competitive category, but I'd say he's one of the most deluded. He seems to be under the impression that his caustic brand of satire is the reason he hasn't got a tv show and why the establishment is supposedly hostile towards him (assuming it even cares). This, of course, is rubbish. Public figures love being satirised by comedians, it keeps them relevant and somehow makes them seem more human. Thatcher loved her portrayal on Spitting Image, for example. The more biting the satire, the more public figures lap it up. Callan seems to be the only one who fails to recognise that he lost whatever tiny relevance he had years ago.

    My heart sags whenever I hear the words "Oliver Callan" on radio one and I know a very unfunny Enda Kenny skit is about to unfold. The term one trick pony immediately springs to mind though, in fairness, he's far from on his own in that.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,633 ✭✭✭✭Widdershins


    Thanks for the recommendations, Op. I had never heard of Romesh


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,905 ✭✭✭yosser hughes


    razorblunt wrote: »
    I saw him at the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in years last August and I thought he was very good. Sold out show too into the 3rd week, something seemed different about him too, a lot more relaxed.

    Ed Byrne would be my pick, he has a lot to be thankful for, then again Dara O'Briain is a big guy!

    I couldn't agree more, him and Andrew Maxwell. Not only are they not funny, they are utterly charmless. Sneering and smug would be the two adjectives I'd use.
    Oh, add Colm O'Regan to that list.
    PS:
    Why do all comedians have exactly the same political outlook? There's a niche there for someone.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,639 ✭✭✭andekwarhola


    Just don't get that shouty Tommy Tiernan style either. Kinda like Pat Shortt though.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,253 ✭✭✭Stonedpilot


    Aidan Killian is another crap comedian who springs to mind, hasn't been mentioned yet as no one probably has heard of him but a real spiteful character. Often goes on big unfunny conspiratorial rants and tries in vain to berate those in the audience who don't agree. I like truthful and social commentary comedy but this guy is just so so awful at it like a incoherent street preacher mixed with the barstool drunk babbling. No clarity or wit whatsoever.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,881 ✭✭✭Easy Rod


    That young fella whose whole shtick is that he's gay and now that he's depressed. Not a single glimmer of originality.

    I don't think he's funny in the slightest but being depressed is not a 'schtick'. Fair play to him for talking openly about it.

    The best Irish comedians working right now are Foil, Arms & Hog.

    There's also a few smaller Twitter/Facebook comedians like Chap's Eye and Brilliant Shane who are fantastic and very original.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,882 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    I'm very sympathetic to comedians, it's a hard gig and depression is nearly a job requirement.

    Out of everyone else listed so far I think most of them could probably be funny in the right setting. You can't blame them for trying anything to make money any way they can.



    If anyone has a real interest in comedians listen to "An Irishman Abroad" podcast hosted by Jarleth Regan. A really good insight into their lives. A particularly good one (which I wasn't expecting it to be) was Bernard O'Shea. Him talking about being hated and moving from gig to gig where the response was just so bad was a really good listen.



    If anyone thinks all female irish comedians are bad have a listen to Aisling Bea, she's great.


  • Registered Users Posts: 54 ✭✭Nidom


    I second Foils, Arms & Hog, some brilliant stuff.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,253 ✭✭✭Stonedpilot


    Nidom wrote: »
    I second Foils, Arms & Hog, some brilliant stuff.

    Have funny moments alright, my favourite Irish short sketches is Sminky Shorts. Though they are few and far between.


  • Registered Users Posts: 616 ✭✭✭Jrop


    I don't find Mc Savage or Alison Spittle remotely funny. I can't understand the D'unbelieveables.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,300 ✭✭✭✭razorblunt



    Out of everyone else listed so far I think most of them could probably be funny in the right setting. You can't blame them for trying anything to make money any way they can.

    If anyone thinks all female irish comedians are bad have a listen to Aisling Bea, she's great.



    I agree on Aisling Bea, I like her.

    With regard to the "right setting", comedians as a job seems to have evolved from doing a run of comedy gigs, to doing some for a while and getting a spot on tv and trying to hold on to tv as long as possible.

    In the UK now there seems to be a band of comedians that do nothing but jump from one panel show to another, by the time you go to see them live, they don't have any new material.

    That's probably the one thing Bea needs to avoid, but from what I've seen so far, tv wise she seems to be a genuine funny person rather than a "read from the script of the panel show and wait for the gap for your material" funny.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,235 ✭✭✭✭Cee-Jay-Cee


    PJ Gallagher is a complete dose, even when being interviewed he has that stupid fake laugh that he puts on no matter what the question. He is not funny, never was and never will be.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,882 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    razorblunt wrote: »
    I agree on Aisling Bea, I like her.

    With regard to the "right setting", comedians as a job seems to have evolved from doing a run of comedy gigs, to doing some for a while and getting a spot on tv and trying to hold on to tv as long as possible.

    In the UK now there seems to be a band of comedians that do nothing but jump from one panel show to another, by the time you go to see them live, they don't have any new material.

    That's probably the one thing Bea needs to avoid, but from what I've seen so far, tv wise she seems to be a genuine funny person rather than a "read from the script of the panel show and wait for the gap for your material" funny.

    I agree. It is such a strange world for comedians now. Before they could write material and then go perform it and get paid for the gig, then do a comedy album and burn the material after using it for the previous 12 months.

    But now they need to constantly be tweeting funny things, writing material for upcoming panel shows where they will need 3 or 4 funny jokes per topic. They need to be up to date on political issues and be ready to spout from their soap box any time they get a few hundred retweets on a joke. They are asked to go on the radio and comment on serious issues, and go on TV to do documentary/serious programs when the producers think the boring idea is just missing a funny host to liven it up. Then they go to the few remaining comedy clubs and they have people who have only seen their tweets, have only heard them on the radio, have only seen them on panel shows from 2009 because they're on Dave. And they have to deliver a set to accommodate all these different people. Combine that with the fact that some people in the room will be uploading clips to youtube, comedians are expected to be producing jokes and burning them after one single use.

    For as bad as some Irish comedians are, there are a lot of them giving a really good effort at the above, and a few of them even managing to pull it all off convincingly.

    I say fair play to any comedian, even the **** ones.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Im biased cos hes from my home town but i genuinely think Fred Cooke is halirious.

    Detest Tommy Tiernan, that Kevin McAleer gets on my nerves as well


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,986 ✭✭✭paulbok


    That Dermot Whelan guy from the radio.

    D1ckhead


    This is about unfunny comedians.
    Whelan is just some t1t off tv who said one day "I'm going to be a comedian now", and somehow people think he is one.
    Bit like a guy who buys a fancy calculator and sets himself up as an accountant.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,435 ✭✭✭Austria!


    jason byrne is the worst comedian i have ever seen. He tries so hard to be funny its cringy.

    They all try hard to be funny. And they spend years playing **** gigs to drunk crowds to try and get there. What are they supposed to do, stop making the jokes that demonstrably work? If they are making a living from it you cant say they aren't funny, because they clearly are to enough people to make a viable career.



    I don't see why comedians get this level of hatred, compared to almost any other harmless profession. Do people assume not liking a comedian makes their humour more discerning and sophisticated? You are allowed to not like things. Just change the channel and move on.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 21,448 ✭✭✭✭Cupcake_Crisis


    yabadabado wrote: »
    Al Porter is absolutely terrible.

    I am genuinely shocked anyone would g to see a gig of his never mind paying for it.

    I think he's hilarious. Saw him twice in the laughter lounge and he was the only one who got a laugh either time.

    Comedy is subjective. I can't abide the the likes of Rosenstock or the rubberbandits, but I love Al Porter or Dylan Moran. Whatever makes you laugh!


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,626 ✭✭✭Glenster



    Can I think of a single Irish comedian now who can lace their boots?. Nope, won't stop them getting a crap intelligence insulting comedy (Bridget and Eamon/Damo and Ivor etc) or guest spot on some awful panel show with scripted jokes and toilet humour.

    Christ we gave the World Oscar Wilde for God's sake!.



    Yer man from Damo and Ivor is the modern Oscar Wilde in fairness.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 102 ✭✭Kadser


    MadDog76 wrote: »
    I've yet to laugh at a female, Irish or otherwise, stand-up comedian ..........
    Just think if there were gender quotas in Irish comedy and we had a dozen Deirdre O'Kanes!


  • Registered Users Posts: 16,500 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    Not Irish obviously but Joan Rivers was an excellent female comedian.

    I loved the non PC, sharp witted New Yorker persona she developed for himself. People were aghast that a WOMAN, yes a WOMAN could say such things.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 102 ✭✭Kadser


    A Joan Rivers-type comedian would never get anywhere in PC Ireland.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    murpho999 wrote: »
    This thread is just going to lead to every known Irish comedian and how unfunny they are despite having successful careers as comedians.

    Why can't people accept that different people have different tastes?

    yep, comedy is subjective...we all have a different sense of humour

    take Al Porter, some people on this thread don't like him...but i think he's brill and i have no doubt in my mind he'll be a huge TV personality on british TV ala Graham Norton


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,628 ✭✭✭darkdubh


    Three words. Noel V Ginnity. Most of the people posting here are probably too young to remember him luckily. He was kidnapped and held to ransom by a Dublin criminal gang in the mid 90s. After he was freed he appeared on the Late Late with Gaybo where he subjected the nation to several of his stand up routines. If theres been an unfunnier so called "comedian" to emerge from Ireland then my names Donald Trump.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,162 ✭✭✭MadDog76


    Am a big fan of comedians, like the clever, witty and sarcastic stuff.. never going to get people who like everyone, you can't force yourself to like someone.
    I tried so much to like Lee Evans but I really couldn't.

    Why???? :confused:


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 102 ✭✭Kadser


    MadDog76 wrote: »
    Why???? :confused:
    Have you seen the movie The Fifth Element?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,162 ✭✭✭MadDog76


    If anyone thinks all female irish comedians are bad have a listen to Aisling Bea, she's great.

    You must be f*cking joking!!??!!! :eek:


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭h7nlrp2v0g5u48


    Dave mc Savage I think he is very funny. The savage eye brilliant piece of comedy tv. Seen him on the late late show brilliant.


  • Registered Users Posts: 16,500 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    I remember flicking on to one of those Lee Evans specials years ago. The comedy routine was not to my taste but at the end of the show a piano was brought out on stage and he sang a lovely song with his Dad.

    He was bloody brilliant, he should have focused his showbusiness ambitions towards music not comedy.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,457 ✭✭✭✭lawred2


    Liam28 wrote: »
    Al Porter anyone? Best I can say about him is that he is not as bad as Oliver Callan. And the original and worst unfunny comedian, Brendan O'Carroll. Say 'feck' enough times and some people will laugh. Still he has made his fortune in the UK.
    Agree about Tommy Tiernan and Des Bishop who have not been funny in 10 years. And Jason Byrne never was and never will be funny.
    There are some good Irish comedians. Dara OBriain is funny and witty. Mario Rosenstock is talented and funny some of the time. Eh, I'm sure there are more.
    Here's a classic sketch from the late, great Dave Allen.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upEBdKFGlPg

    Rosenstock is the furthest thing from funny


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,350 ✭✭✭Cortina_MK_IV


    darkdubh wrote: »
    Three words. Noel V Ginnity. Most of the people posting here are probably too young to remember him luckily. He was kidnapped and held to ransom by a Dublin criminal gang in the mid 90s. After he was freed he appeared on the Late Late with Gaybo where he subjected the nation to several of his stand up routines. If theres been an unfunnier so called "comedian" to emerge from Ireland then my names Donald Trump.
    Throw "Mr. Comedy Himself" Sil Fox in as part of that era.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,903 ✭✭✭micar


    Brendan grace.....purely awful


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,457 ✭✭✭✭lawred2


    Can't stand slapstick comedy and impressionists.
    Therefore was never going to fall in love with Rubberbandits or Rosenstock.
    Not a fan of Republic of Telly either, didn't like Podge and Rodge back in the day.

    Am a massive Dara fan, particularly when he's with Ed Byrne, although I'm not a huge fan of Ed on his own, they really do get the best out of each other.
    Tommy Tiernan's best days are sadly behind him, can tell even by his stand up shows.

    Am a big fan of comedians, like the clever, witty and sarcastic stuff.. never going to get people who like everyone, you can't force yourself to like someone.
    I tried so much to like Lee Evans but I really couldn't.

    Rubberbandits and Rosenstock are almost at opposite ends of the spectrum. It's an insult to the bandits to be mentioned in the same breath as Rosenstock.

    Slapstick? Are you sure you were watching the right act?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭h7nlrp2v0g5u48


    lawred2 wrote: »
    Rosenstock is the furthest thing from funny
    I couln'd agree more just the same old sketches all the time. Tries to take off Miriam o Callahan, Michael D and Enda Kenny. How he makes a living out of trying to be funny is beyond belief. As for that other egit Oliver Callan he couln'd make a clown laugh.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭h7nlrp2v0g5u48


    lawred2 wrote: »
    Rosenstock is the furthest thing from funny
    I couln'd agree more just the same old sketches all the time. Tries to take off Miriam o Callahan, Michael D and Enda Kenny. How he makes a living out of trying to be funny is beyond belief. As for that other egit Oliver Callan he couln'd make a clown laugh.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,256 ✭✭✭MPFGLB


    mfceiling wrote: »
    No he isn't.

    Dylan Moran is seriously funny. Kudos also to David O'Doherty.


    Dylan Moran's Monster standup gig (dvd) circa 2004 is actuallyl genius..Up there with Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks for me....

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5tiSbTlGVg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,373 ✭✭✭tonycascarino


    Dara Ó Briain....About as funny as picking up aids...


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 50 ✭✭The Humble Sausage


    Aisling bee. Deirdre okane. Jarlath Regan.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,497 ✭✭✭ArnoldJRimmer


    micar wrote: »
    Brendan grace.....purely awful

    In fairness, I cant imagine his act has evolved that much since the eighties when he was a huge star. His target audience still love him, same with Brendan O'Carroll, even though I don't find either very funny.

    I just cant get my head around how anyone could find Maeve Higgins or Jason Byrne funny in the first place. I know comedy is subjective, but its painful watching them.

    I like Dara O'Briain and Dylan Moran. Dave McSavage might be a bit of a knob, but I did find parts of the Savage Eye entertaining


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,580 ✭✭✭Thundercats Ho


    Kevin Gildea. The comedic equivalent of kidney stones.


    I quite like some Irish comedians, just not as stand ups.

    Tommy Tiernan is funny giving interviews, but is way too shouty doing stand up.

    Surprisingly, Brendan O Carroll is funny in interviews too, but woefully unfunny when trying to be funny!!

    Ed Byrne, Dara O Briain, Des Bishop, Andrew Maxwell are just painful.

    Sharon Horgan and Ashling Bea are quite funny too, but I've never seen them do standup.

    I think there's plenty of funny Irish comedians. They're just not very good at standup..


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭h7nlrp2v0g5u48


    In fairness, I cant imagine his act has evolved that much since the eighties when he was a huge star. His target audience still love him, same with Brendan O'Carroll, even though I don't find either very funny.

    I just cant get my head around how anyone could find Maeve Higgins or Jason Byrne funny in the first place. I know comedy is subjective, but its painful watching them.

    I like Dara O'Briain and Dylan Moran. Dave McSavage might be a bit of a knob, but I did find parts of the Savage Eye entertaining
    Brendan Grace is for the older generation. My mum went to see him in our local arts centre €25 a pop and sold out. He was pissed doing the same old jokes and bottler. Did around sixty minutes and looked like he couln'd wait to get to the pub. Handy money.eh


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭h7nlrp2v0g5u48


    In fairness, I cant imagine his act has evolved that much since the eighties when he was a huge star. His target audience still love him, same with Brendan O'Carroll, even though I don't find either very funny.

    I just cant get my head around how anyone could find Maeve Higgins or Jason Byrne funny in the first place. I know comedy is subjective, but its painful watching them.

    I like Dara O'Briain and Dylan Moran. Dave McSavage might be a bit of a knob, but I did find parts of the Savage Eye entertaining
    Brendan Grace is for the older generation. My mum went to see him in our local arts centre €25 a pop and sold out. He was pissed doing the same old jokes and bottler. Did around sixty minutes and looked like he couln'd wait to get to the pub. Handy money.eh


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,219 ✭✭✭tipptom


    There used to be a show on RTE a few years back that was a rip off of "Have I got News For You",it had the motherload of seriously bad "RTE type comedians" trying to be witty and failing miserably.


    RTE has a lot to answer for forcing some of these people on us.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 43,311 ✭✭✭✭K-9


    MPFGLB wrote: »
    Dylan Moran's Monster standup gig (dvd) circa 2004 is actuallyl genius..Up there with Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks for me....

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5tiSbTlGVg

    Moran is a step above the others.

    A lot of the comedians mentioned here are on the road 10 or 20 years, must be hard to keep it going, Tommy Tiernan a perfect example of that.

    Ed Byrne would be the one I don't rate at all. Patrick Kielty was funny for about 2 years.

    Mad Men's Don Draper : What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    tipptom wrote: »
    There used to be a show on RTE a few years back that was a rip off of "Have I got News For You",it had the motherload of seriously bad "RTE type comedians" trying to be witty and failing miserably.


    RTE has a lot to answer for forcing some of these people on us.

    The Panel? Sure Mairead Farrell was one of the contributors on it thats how bad it was. That idiot Maxwell was on it and Colin Murphy hosted it.

    Dont feed the Gondolas with Moncrieff, Brendan o'connor and Dara o'bhrian was better IIRC


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,349 ✭✭✭Jimmy Garlic


    tipptom wrote: »
    There used to be a show on RTE a few years back that was a rip off of "Have I got News For You",it had the motherload of seriously bad "RTE type comedians" trying to be witty and failing miserably.


    RTE has a lot to answer for forcing some of these people on us.

    Colin Murphy has been making exactly the same faces and telling exactly the same jokes for years. Irish comedians never evolve, they are incredibly stale. Des Bishop still plays the ''Yank in Ireland'' shtick on a loop despite the fact that he has lived here most of his life.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,480 ✭✭✭Dick phelan


    Never seen his stand up but the Savage eye is one of the funniest shows RTE have had imo,


Advertisement