Mocking it to us

DARA O Briain has spent the past couple of months preparing for his next stand-up tour, which includes York, Middlesbrough and Newcastle, and admits that the recent return of BBC’s Mock The Week has been far from his thoughts.

‘‘Stand-up is what I do,’’ he says. ‘‘I’ve been trying to write a two-hour show and have barely thought about Mock The Week. This is the longest conversation I’ve had about it in months. It sounds cliched but when we all get together the magic just happens so I’m not worrying too much about it.

“All I can say for certain is that the Tories’ new poster campaign will be getting a bashing. I’ve made a sort of mental footnote with the subject heading ‘David Cameron’s Shiny Face’ and that’s about all I’ve got so far. Not even L’Oreal ads use the airbrush that much. And that slogan. ‘We Can’t Go On Like This’. I have visions of JR and Sue Ellen, weeping over cocktails and clinking glasses. That’s your future. It’s the equivalent of ‘It’s not you, it’s me’.’’ O Briain is now an A-list comic with the power to have already sold out the Grand Opera House, York on April 18 and Newcastle City Hall on April 30. There are a few tickets left for Middlesbrough Town Hall and Crypt on April 29 and, wisely, Newcastle City Hall have rebooked the Irishman for October 18-19.

The son of a trade union negotiator, the 37-year-old says he is enjoying the chance to poke fun at disgraced Peter Robinson on his current tour.

‘‘There’s nothing more fun than seeing somebody’s moral superiority obliterated.

And for the English to know a little bit about Irish politics is a treat in itself,’’ he laughs.

It was joining the college debating society which gave him an outlet for comic speeches, he recalls. Then he went on open mic nights, where you’d have a five-minute slot at a pub or a club. For a while he became a children’s presenter on Irish TV before gaining success on the Irish comedy circuit.

His one-man shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival got him noticed and he steadily built up a fan base before graduating to larger venues.

But it was BBC2’s Mock The Week, the topical panel show – a mix of Have I Got News For You? and Whose Line Is It Anyway? – that helped his profile to new heights. He’s found another hit with the BBC’s unlikely success story, Three Men In A Boat, and last year released a book about the English that was as informed and intelligent as it was witty.

Just to add to his allure, he keeps his private life very private and will not even confirm that his doctor wife’s name is Susan and that they have a child.

‘‘I’m not into the whole celebrity thing.

I’ve been doing this 15 years and things are going well. I’m sort of enjoying it. I like being a comedian and I am a comedian. That’s quite bizarre in itself. I don’t think too much about any of the other stuff. The day you see me on Strictly Come dancing, you’ll know I’m not funny any more.’’ He laughs ruefully when asked if Mock The Week can survive Frankie Boyle’s departure.

‘‘I don’t know, it could be the ushering in of a new era. We may change the theme music to ‘Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead’ and then we the munchkins will appear and sing our happy munchkin song.

‘‘It may genuinely be a much less vicious show which to some people may be a disappointment. Who knows?

Certainly Kerry Katona can sleep a little easier and a few other targets can breathe a sigh of relief.

‘‘Frankie’s a genius, there’s no mistake about that. But he had this knack of finding the perfect one-liner that rather cut dead any debate so there may be a change in tone now that the back-andforth aspect of the show can run a little.’’ Producers have made the wise decision not to permanently fill Boyle’s slot on the panel. Instead, the three regulars will now welcome three different guests each week, though O Briain realises that whoever sits in Boyle’s chair will be in for a tough time.

‘‘Unfortunately whoever sits there will get a world of grief from Twitter and blogs and people rushing to the internet, but hopefully people will get it,’’ he says.

Boyle’s departure didn’t come as a major surprise to his colleagues.

‘‘He told us two weeks before the end of the last run,’’ says O Briain. ‘‘He was finding it a hassle. His family are up in Scotland and he wanted to spend more time with them and the travelling was becoming a pain. So he told us and then unfortunately he pulled a muscle in his chest, which became ‘chest pain’, which then became ‘Oh my God, Frankie’s having a heart attack’ and there was a lot of confusion in the papers.

‘‘He just wanted a break from it.”

■ The eighth series of Mock The Week continues tonight on BBC2 at 9pm

■ Dara O’Briain tickets are still available for April 29 at Middlesbrough Town Hall. £19.50. Box Office: 01642- 729729 visitmiddlesbrough.com and Newcastle City Hall on October 18-19.

0191-261-2606 newcastlecityhall.org