Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain first became interested in comedy through a very serious medium. Ó Briain—who will be performing at the Royal Theatre this month—got intrigued with the art of making people laugh while attending debates in university.
“In Irish universities we do debating in a big way, which means big public debates,” says Ó Briain. “We invited politicians and journalists to speak of the issues of today; there would be huge audiences. I remember coming in to college and thinking this was the most grown-up thing I’d ever seen. So students are able to speak as well, and it was always very impressive that they would speak with these adults and try to hold their own in these discussions, but occasionally some of them would break off into something funny, and I remember being so impressed with that, in that second-year college, and I thought to myself, well, I’m going to try that.”
Ó Briain tried his hand at it and the rest is humorous history.
“It was kind of a competition thing,” says Ó Briain. “I told a joke at the very beginning, a joke not worth repeating as it was so specific to the moment, but I got a big laugh and a big round of applause.”
Ó Briain says that the laughter and applause hit him hard.
“It was like the first hit of a drug, to be very honest. Something I’d never felt before, and I’ve been chasing that first hit ever since,” he says. “That sheer adrenaline rush. It was a very nice feeling, and it started in university. I became the guy who was called upon to host the big charity events, blind date, that kind of stuff. I became that guy on campus. So I decided, okay, I’m going to try doing this in the real world.”
Initially, comedy was slow going for Ó Briain.
“At first it’s just, you try, you try, you try this,” says Ó Briain. “The nursery slopes of comedy are pretty gentle. You get five minutes. If that goes right you get another five minutes. If that goes right you might get moved up to 10 minutes, and back again. It’s all geared up to getting you started, they’re giving you a small amount of time, and then just when you feel you’re just getting it right, then you wake up 28 years later and you’re still doing it.”
Ó Briain has been touring for the last year and a half, so when he reaches Vancouver Island his show should be smooth sailing, with some added Canadian content.
“It’s been all through the UK and Ireland,” says Ó Briain. “By the time it gets to Victoria it will have been performed 144 times. So it’s pretty polished. So when it gets to you, it will not only be polished, but it will have extra Canadian bits. The last time I was there, it revolved around a taxi driver in Moncton, New Brunswick, who had explained that Moncton had more Tim Hortons than anywhere else in Canada. Then he listed off every single one, and its location. So that became part of the show.”
Ó Briain is looking forward to have his tour end on the west coast and says he feels it’s sort of a gift to himself.
“When I get there, I will have literally done the entire country. I will have to ask the other people of Canada what they think of the people of Victoria. I’m not exactly sure what they’ll say,” he says with a laugh. “Perhaps they’ll be like, ‘Oh, those people in Victoria, surrounded by all that impressive beauty all the time and taking it for granted, while we are sitting here in Moncton with a river that occasionally swells.’ … Most of the tour we spend driving along the motorway in UK, visiting small towns. The UK is a huge country with lots of small towns, lots of small theatres. But the prize at the end is I get to dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean. So you’re like the reward at the end of the tour, and I can only imagine the mood I will be in when I get there. I will be like, I have earned this, by just surviving through all these years.”
Dara Ó Briain
7 pm Friday, September 15
$56.60, Royal Theatre
rmts.bc.ca