He hosts Mock The Week.
He’s done a massively successful stand-up tour over the last year.
Could you shout for me the lyrics to Im a teapot short and stout?
I look forward to it.
This will really shift DVDs!
I said defenestration And they said okay.
And Im like: do you not want an anecdote or a clever, funny reason?
And she said no!
I just wanted to know your favourite word!
People will see that and go I must buy that DVD because defenestration is his favourite word!
We thus start talking about the gig…]
Were you there the first or second night in Birmingham?
But it was the courgette patch that stuck in the head most!
He dropped the stuff in the courgette patch.
As if it couldnt be any more middle class than that!
It was a good night, very good fun.
Its a fucking great room.
I was going to ask that.
The size of the rooms on the tour seem to have increased.
Does that alter your act?
It currently hasnt changed that much.
Im currently at what I think is the limit for doing what I do.
Even the Apollo is very open as a room, so that still works, just about.
Thats a 3,500 seater room.
Any bigger than this, itd be a mess.
If youre bigger than this, youre talking Lee Evans stuff anyway.
The ideal space for comedy is one-to-one and a half thousand, really.
You seem to get a real kick out of that.
It does keep it fresh for me.
So there has to be a 90 minute show.
Ive just found that the audience are a ludicrously useful resource.
Crime story is the classic example.
And you want to get that out of them.
Tell him that story!
It creates an instant tension if you might see theres clearly something coming off the cuff.
It gets a huge roar.
I came to you!].
You must, though, have had your fair share of tricky answers that you cant do anything with?
Well, Ive stopped doing interesting places, because it actually gets a bit hacky.
Youre from there, you must be this.
More interesting is what people do.
Audiences dont have an emotional response to that job.
Yours does work very well on that format, though…
So I was never sure how things were working.
It is a gamble.
That the one time when you put the cameras in that itll kick off.
Yours isnt the kind of show that you could film over two nights either and edit it together?
Its got to be a one night shoot.
It does, yeah.
Peoples attention spans are shorter for a DVD than they would be for a live show anyway.
I think we removed one person entirely who worked.
A database information manager.
That could be awkward.
Do you have to trim much back for legal reasons?
We didnt on that particularly night, but I suppose you might play things fast and loose.
We checked a couple of things with it.
I made sure I had the exact proper wording for the pregnancy test.
The most sophisticated piece of technology you will ever pee on is the actual ad.
I actually Googled it the night before the DVD was recorded to find the exact wording.
There were a couple of things.
The guy never actually admitted to touching the child!
Have you just said that out loud while walking down the road?
On Oxford Street as well!
I loved the drinking game you recorded with David Mitchell.
This seemed far more sedate getting David Mitchell in
He drank as much!
[laughs] I got quite lairy and red-faced.
I had to go on and do a gig later.
David well was up for doing more.
He can really fucking pack them away.
But I think Davids one was less shot based as well.
I genuinely wait for some sensationalist phone-in in Ireland.
Its a 15, the DVD, and yet its got a drinking game on it.
Thats got to be wrong.
Somebodys got to pick up on it and go wait a fucking minute!
Youre essentially just bringing in people and getting them pissed!
[Police sirens start wailing in the background]
Theyre coming for the man whos talking loudly about paedophilia!
Its all kicking off, fire engines and everything.
I liked the inclusion of the extra Irish gig on the disc.
I thought the top and tail of the act was tailored to the Irish audience.
And Ive no idea what the word gee is.
[Laughs some more]
Lovely!
I meant to put a glossary in!
Its essentially thats how it works.
The heart of the show, crime and community, they carried on on rails.
We had the things that happened in the house.
The Montesorri answer was particularly brilliant, and Ive been telling that one on stage ever since.
But Im intrigued to know: were you watching going what the fuck is he talking about?
The first five minutes, to a born and bred Englishman, I was a bit lost.
But then I think that was part of the point?
You referred to the fact that you were filming it as a DVD extra as well.
That was really sweet and a genuinely touching moment!
You looked absolutely overjoyed…
I was so glad she did it on a night when the cameras were there!
I did my last one.
I did 34 nights at the Vicar Street this year.
Its just an incredible room for comedy.
34 nights would be a brilliant run anywhere.
Tommy Tiernan did 60 nights!
An apprentice, 19-year old.
But it was Sunday night, and I said we cant find a football.
And when I did the big round-up at the end, I went off to do the encore.
The biggest applause Ive ever got, just for having a football in my hand.
He came on stage and juggled the ball, passed it to me and hoofed it into the crowd.
Massive ending, standing ovation.
Its just a joy of a room.
[Laughs] Excellent!
Its not frivolous comedy is it?
You talk about solid things that matter, and make them funny.
Is that the aim?
You kind of wonder what the fuck am I genuinely angry about?
Whats been pissing me off?
Bad science is a major thing this year.
It is useful to tap into genuine emotions.
Its like writing a sitcom.
You write a sitcom and you write the characters first, the jokes just kind of follow.
Its very difficult to construct one-liners in a vacuum.
The funny lines kind of follow.
I might nick that!
Would you be deeply offended if I call my next tour The Circus Of Upbeat Intolerance?
One thing Ive always wondered.
You were quite scathing about Gillian McKeith on your first DVD.
Has she ever been in touch?
Weirdly enough, she hasnt!
And also shes never been with a writ, and shes notoriously litigious.
Everything I said about her, and she couldnt fucking say anything!
I saw you on a show the other day on Dave, where you seemed in your element.
It was calledArgumental, a show about debating hot topics…
Oh yeah, yeah!
[Laughs]
I like a debate!
Debating was my background, and I like an argument!
I found my blood rising.ArgumentalI really enjoyed.
Its like a footballer dipping in form.
And I went off and didArgumental, and just roared and ranted.
Then I was ah thats how you do it, and I was back on track again.
Dara OBriain, thank you very much.
Dara OBriain Talks Funny: Live In London is out now on DVD.
Our review of it is here.
Tomorrow, our week of stand-up comedy continues as we interview Sean Lock.
Also check out:Tim Vine interviewRussell Howard interview
