Best Irish Comedians of All Time
From Dave Allen on his stool to Dara Ó Briain, Dylan Moran and Aisling Bea: the Irish comedians who shaped stand-up and TV comedy, with their best-known work.
Ireland is a small country with an outsized hold on comedy. The Irish gift for storytelling, a long tradition of talking your way around a subject, and a healthy suspicion of anyone taking themselves too seriously all show up on stage. With Halloween coming (its roots go back to the old Irish festival of Samhain), here are the Irish comedians worth knowing.
The legend
Dave Allen (1936–2005). Born in Dublin, Allen sat on a stool with a glass in his hand and told long, sly stories, many of them poking at the Church. Dave Allen at Large made him a household name in Britain and Ireland in the 1970s. He signed off every show with "May your God go with you." Almost every Irish comic since owes him something.
The big names
Dara Ó Briain (born 1972, Bray, County Wicklow). A former maths and physics student, Ó Briain is a fast, joyful talker who can riff with a front row for ten minutes. He hosted the panel show Mock the Week from 2005 to 2022.
Dylan Moran (born 1971, Navan, County Meath). Rumpled, poetic and grumpy in the best way. Moran won the Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1996 and co-created and starred in the sitcom Black Books.
Tommy Tiernan (born 1969). One of Ireland's biggest live acts, a wild, physical storyteller. He won the Perrier Award in 1998 and hosts The Tommy Tiernan Show, where he interviews guests without knowing in advance who they are.
Graham Norton (born 1963, Clondalkin, Dublin; raised in Bandon, County Cork). Better known now as a talk-show host than a stand-up, but his quick wit made The Graham Norton Show one of the most-watched chat shows in the world.
Ed Byrne (born 1972, Dublin). A sharp observational comic with a long list of tours and TV appearances in Britain and Ireland.
The newer wave
Aisling Bea (born 1984, County Kildare). Stand-up, panel-show regular and writer-star of the sitcom This Way Up.
Maeve Higgins. A gentle, deadpan storyteller who moved from Ireland to New York and writes and performs about life as an immigrant.
Des Bishop (born 1975 in London, raised in New York). He moved to Ireland as a young man and built his career there, often joking about Ireland from the outside looking in.
An honorary Irishman
Spike Milligan (1918–2002). Born in India to an Irish father, Milligan co-created The Goon Show, the radio comedy that inspired Monty Python and much of British absurd humor. He held Irish citizenship.
What they have in common
Most of them are storytellers first. Irish stand-up tends to wander, circle back, and land the joke three minutes after you thought the story was over. If you like that style, try our best deadpan comedians and British comedians next.
Related
Sources (3)
Wikipedia: Dave Allen · Wikipedia: Dara Ó Briain · Wikipedia: Dylan Moran
Photo: Dara Ó Briain - Festival of Curiosity 4 by Sandra from Dublin, Ireland, CC BY 2.0.