Hardy Bucks star to perform in local Tipperary town this week

Comedian Kevin McGahern is set to take to the stage in Bakers Bar, Clonmel this week to perform his stand-up comedy show “Shy Talker”.

McGahern, who rose to fame due to appearances on the popular RTÉ mockumentary series Hardy Bucks, eventually went on to host Republic of Telly for a number of years.

This week, he spoke with the Tipperary Star about his journey through the comedy scene, from how he got started, to who inspires him, as well as discussing some of his favourite memories in comedy.

“I studied animation in college. I was always interested in comics and cartoons, and I liked making comics for people in school, and kind of getting a reaction through that way, and then I kind of thought ‘right, animation is the way to go.’ Then when I was in college, a guy I was in college with did comedy, and I’d never met a comedian before. It’s like meeting an astronaut or something. I didn’t think that was something you could actually do, you know? But he made it sound very easy he was like just try it like, the worst you could do is die in your hole, so that was it, I kind of fell into it really,” he said.

“Then I realised, it could take 6 months to make a cartoon to get a reaction out of people but you can go up on stage and get a reaction immediately, so I think I got kind of addicted to that, and then bit-by-bit, the animation fell away and then I found myself thinking ‘oh it’s a job now, okay.’ It wasn't really a big game plan, I sort of fell into it really.”

His big break, he says, came when he was asked by ‘Hardy Bucks’ series creator Chris Tordoff if he wanted to play a character on the show.

“I was doing a gig and Chris Tordoff was at it. We got chatting after the gig, and then we kind of became friends, and he said we're doing this thing for RTÉ, do you want to come down and do a role in it, and I knew if I gave myself a good name, then I’d be solidified as a character, so I came up with Sim Card on the bus down, I just thought that was a really funny name for a lad in a small town. That was kind of it, that led on to a few sketches on the Republic of Telly and then eventually hosting Republic of Telly,” he said.

McGahern recalls his time on ‘Hardy Bucks’ as being the most fun he’s ever had, stating shoots usually ended up consisting of the cast members trying to make each other laugh.

“There was a very lax approach to the script, so everyone was just trying to make each other laugh all the time. We had the run of the town you know, it was very popular, we had the run of the place, and we could kind of do whatever we wanted,” he said.

“There was one time we were filming in a car park and the guards came over and they were like ‘have you a licence to shoot here,’ and I think we were literally doing a scene of a drug deal and I remember the guards pulled us over so we were worrying, you know, and they’re like ‘have you a permit?’ and we had no permit, and they were like ‘right, this is what’s going to happen here, we're taking these cameras, we're confiscating them and wiping all the footage, you have no permission here, you need permission from the town council’ and all this craic, and we were shi**ing ourselves. Then at the last minute, one of them just went to “C’mere, which one of yous is the Viper, yaaaaaaa!” They were just taking the p**s, so even the guards were on our side. It was honestly, yeah, the best craic ever.”

Things in the comedy scene are not all rosy, as Kevin attested to, recalling what he considered the lowest point in his comedy career.

“I remember agreeing to do a charity gig for a lad, and then it turned out that there was no charity actually attached to it, and I was fairly sure it was a scam, so I belittled him on stage and said like ‘this is an absolute scam, this guy's a disgrace’ and then I just left the stage after three minutes. I didn’t do any stand up at all, and his entire family was there, and tried to kill me, his dad was ready to ring my neck and his brothers were holding his dad back, Eventually then, another comedian just opened up a fire escape and we just ran, but that was probably a low point, where I was like ‘why did I do that gig?’” he said.

“I remember Paul Marsh, who's a fireman and a comedian, warned me not to do the gig beforehand, and I was real cocky. I was like ‘no it’s going to be grand, I’ll turn this around’ and I didn't turn it around at all, so when a fireman tells you not to go into a burning building you listen to that fireman,” he said.
Kevin discussed his comedy heroes, offering a great deal of insight into his comedy brain, and showing what inspires his routines.

“I think Norm McDonald is my favorite. I think, well Tommy Tiernan was my first favorite really, and then Richard Pryor, and then Norm McDonald. Probably Dave Chapelle as well, yeah, I just think they possess a level of genius that you don't really get too often, you know? But if I had to pick one, probably Norm. He has this quality where he doesn't care if you laugh or not, and sometimes will go out of his way to make you not laugh, and that’ll make him laugh, like he’s always been more interested in making himself laugh than the audience and I find that very brave, because 99% of comedians, we just want approval and we just want acceptance from the audience, and he never sought that, which I find very admirable.”

Kevin expressed his love for Clonmel, saying he is looking forward to spending some time in the Tipperary town with his family for a while.

“I can’t wait, I love Clonmel. I’m bringing the family down so we’re making a bit of a holiday out of it, so yeah, it should be great craic,” he said.

You can see Kevin McGahern perform his live show, “Shy Talker,” in Baker’s Bar, Clonmel, on Thursday, October 10, from 8:30pm.

Tickets are available from his website, kevinmcgahern.com.