| MAKE 'EM LAUGH Mark Godfrey talks to the elusive comedian Dylan Moran and tries to fathom where the new Irish talent has come from Dylan Moran, Perrier-winning stand-up and star of Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, hates journalists. Interviewing him is a joyless, unfunny task. But he's a comic genius. And forget the hype: the only comic of real genius who has emerged from the explosion of stand - up comedy we've been subjected to over the past few years. The hype has been worthy of a hundred of his worth, but Moran rises above all peers. Yes, the successes of Irish Comedians is the past couple of years has been phenomenal. Irish comic Tommy Tiernan won the 1998 Perrier Prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and beat off four other nominees including fellow Irish comic Ed Byrne for the prize. Two years ago he won the talent-spotting competition called 'SoYou Think You're Funny?' Comedians Ed Byrne and Jason Byrne made impressions in Edinburgh and soon had their television slots. Moran left school at 16 and spent four jobless years "drinking" and "writing bad poetry." The pale face, browned fingers and slight twitch and the hole - punchingly strong eyes hint at something like that. That was until he happened upon the Comedy Cellar in Dublin and progressed from that little nook over a pub to his now sell-out tour and TV fame. Moran's tousled charm has hooked audiences across the English speaking world. "Dylan's shy, he doesn't like talking to journalists," his PR lady had told this reporter before Moran took to the stage during the recent comedy week at HQ in Dublin. Contemporaries who prefer to remain nameless described him to me as "a very weird character," and "someone who you're never quite sure what he thinks of you." Moran himself tosses questions aside with unfathomable oddities like "I can't give anything away. I just talk about how awful everybody is" or "I can't talk about that at the moment." Moran makes hard work for people in this trade: he offers only quips and evasiveness in place of conversation. "Why is there a fuss about what I'm up to ?" he says, in mock defense of his craft. "I'm just horsing around." Born and raised in Navan (home also to funnymen Tommy Tiernan and the Doherty brothers, Mark and David), Moran's adolescence, he tells his audience at HQ, consisted of "lots of pimples and alcohol." After a disastrous run as a florist, he visited the Cavern comedy club in Dublin when he was 20 and changed careers. "I saw Ardal O'Hanlon and others doing it in Dublin, fancied a go and took it from there" he said in a rare fit of clarity. "I don't really see myself as having a career," he told this writer. "I was completely surprised to win the Perrier - I thought then they should have given it to Bill Bailey - but anyway, it's a piece of media rubbish." A part in the comedy How Do You Want Me? on BBC2 brought Moran his co-writer credit alongside Graham Linehan on Black Books, the Channel 4 sitcom with Moran as Bernard Black the misanthropic bookshop owner. Moran moved to Edinburgh with his wife and child when the television work got so dependable. Moran's story is illustrative of the recent rise and rise of Irish comedy. In 1988 four students begged a sceptical barman at the International Bar in Dublin to give them a shot at doing live Comedy upstairs. The four - later to be known as Mr Trellis - were Dermot Carmody, Ardal O'Hanlon, Barry Murphy and Kevin Gildea. They had studied together at Dublin City University and, with the barman's go-ahead, the Comedy Cellar at the International Bar in Dublin's Wicklow Street got going. The Comedy Cellar was soon to help develop and nurture a 'School for Irish Comedy' offering a space for beginners to do a song or a sketch on a Wednesday night. The talent surfaced slowly - it was not unusual for the performers to outnumber the audience, but by the early 1990's the poky little room was busy every Wednesday night with bodies regularly jamming the door. With the famous smiling pint as their backdrop, Comedy Cellar players were soon at Edinburgh Comedy festivals. Alternative comedy had arrived in Dublin, hometown of traditionalists Hal Roach, Brendan Grace and Brendan O'Carroll. Mr Trellis however succumbed to its own success as its members moved on to the bigger stages in London and tv screens in Ireland and Britain. But younger talent had seen the nod and had the courage. Very soon a large purpose - fitted venue, the Laughter Lounge, had opened in Dublin. Punters wondered at the Irish formula for success. Ardal O Hanlon, a founder member of the Comedy Cellar landed himself the starring role in Channel 4's BAFTA winning series 'Father Ted'. His character, Father Dougal McGuire, has made him a household name in Ireland and Britain and O'Hanlon et al drew in the highest viewing figures Channel 4 has ever enjoyed. For good measure, he walked into TV sunset land with gongs for 'Top Television Comedy Newcomer' at the 1995 British Comedy Awards and a string of nominations at the 1997 Awards. Barry Murphy is the other man of most talent, another founder member of the Comedy Cellar, but he did the brave thing and remained in Ireland to help cultivate a comedy culture here. He began by hosting a television comedy show called 'The End', building up a huge following on RTE, for his sports gags on the Olympics and his 'Aprés Match' sketch for the 1998 World Cup. Murphy is perhaps the nearest thing to Moran's equal on the stage, with an astounding consistency and an attention to detail in his characterisations. Television in Ireland hasn't been enthusiastic to nurture comedy into the large industry that's appeared in Britain. There's been no 'Faulty Towers' or 'Monty Python' or anything that comes close to this level of popular humour. But then, Ireland has never had the 'comedy culture' of Britain, where comedy clubs are no different to the regular theatre in the minds of those wishing to be entertained. RTE rightfully got it across the face when 'Father Ted' was aired by Channel 4 and brought in over 7 million viewers on its final showing. 'Father Ted' has been exported all over the world and has put Irish Comedy on the television map for the first time. An international context here is worthwhile: the appalingly bland but hugely marketed American sitcom 'Friends': its peak ratings last year were a mere 6 million. RTE has however slowly awakened to the huge potential for providing a platform on television or radio for local comics. The future looks positive to the extent that ventures such as 'Don't Feed the Gondola's', 'At Last TV', 'Podge and Rodge', and 'Couched' have become popular. It's no coincidence however that 'Bull Island' has caught the public mood terrifically while 'Upwardly Mobile' became a national embarrassment. One was mimicry, the other an attempt at drama, showing that RTE still hasn't the ability or the courage to successfully marry comedy and soap. The failure is unfortunate: a decent sitcom could propel the image of the station on a national and international level. With a large purpose - designed venue on the banks of the Liffey and a string of stars to call its own, Irish comedy is a proud beast. We are spared those seat itchy moments of sorrow at unoriginal old bags cracking copied gags about their mothers in law. There are many among the new pretenders who are as embarrassingly banal, but we take our hats off to heroes like Dylan Moran. They've given us a standard. We mustn't laugh at anything less. REPRODUCED WITH KIND PERMISSION FROM WWW. USI.IE |