Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Laughing My Head Off

I consider myself relatively 'in the know' when it comes to staying abreast of the latest and greatest of the stand up comedy circuit. For years I would watch every new Comedy Central Presents, and quickly determine the absolute quality of each involved. I would judge them, and if they were good enough I'd seek out the remainder of their material on the internet. It should suffice to say, not a lot got the full treatment, but quite a few impressed me enough to get my full support. Oddly enough though I don't go out to watch stand up commedians live, but I'll admit that's more of a money issue (the closest comedy club to me charges a cool $40+ just to get in the door for the unknowns).

But as of late I've shied away from the American comedy circuit due to the heavy influx of Dane "look how 'dude' I am" Cook imitators who present a style of comedy that irritates the very depth of my soul. So I started looking overseas for comedians for my humor. I dove through the likes of Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais, Rob Ghilbert, and even doubled back in time to check out some old Billy Connolly routines. Yet one stand up really stood out above them all. Perhaps it's because he talks about issues that are the most near and dear to my satirical soul, but also because the guy's just f****** awesome.

I am referring to Irish comedian - and television show presenter - Dara O'Briain. If you're not familiar with his work, don't worry, you're in for a treat. Here are a couple of my favorite routines of his:

*Warning - there's some mature content in these so don't say I didn't warn you.





3 better thoughts:

Sam Turner said...

See if you can find some episodes of Mock The Week. O'Briain hosts it and normally the guests are in his mould of comedian (Frankie Boyle used to be a regular). It's a topical show so the more regular the better but the old ones are still funny to go back to.

John said...

Very nice. For a year or so there, I was trying to familiarize myself with all of the "classic" comedians. So I listened to as much Lenny Bruce, Redd Foxx, and Mort Saul as I could.

I can't say I've gone much beyond British comics, though. I'll be sure to check this guy out.

Univarn said...

@Sam There are a couple of youtube channels that I follow to keep up on my British panel shows (QI, Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You, Have I Got News For You, etc.) which I quite adore. I just wish they did more episodes. 6 - 13 is just way too short!

@John If you get a chance, I recommend checking out some of the old Dean Martin Roasts. Lots of great stand ups (including Don Rickles) for some classic stars - and some classic non stars - with some great material.

Related Posts with Thumbnails