The Irish king of comedy - Ardal O'Hanlon talks about his New York stand up show and life after "Father Ted"

Exclusive interview with the genius behind the wide-eyed eejit beloved to generations, Dougal

“When I started doing stand-up in the early nineties, there was more of Dougal in me. My on-stage persona was awkward, wide-eyed, naïve,” he says.

“It was quite low-energy and reliant on slightly surreal lines. I suppose that’s why I was cast in the first place. As time has gone on, I’ve loosened up a bit, become a bit bolder in terms of material and performance levels. While I try to retain the slightly odd perspective and some of the innocence, it’s really liberating to be able to talk/rant about  all the stuff that bothers me.”

Has Linehan ever asked him to reprise the role of Father Dougal in any context? Would he if asked?

“I don’t think we would ever reprise the role in any context and if asked I would decline. There was talk about doing a stage show at one point, but that sounded to me like exploitation and besides, I had a career on stage anyway,” he said.

“I have great fondness for the character of Dougal and tremendous memories of the show and the cast but you can’t dwell in the past. I’ve been incredibly lucky since Father Ted in terms of career. Every day has brought new challenges, ups and downs.”

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In O'Hanlon's stand up he often riffs on Irish themes. What has he noticed are the themes that get the biggest laughs? What do the Irish get most uncomfortable about?

“Irish people are still very prickly about Catholic Church. Despite all the scandals and cover-ups that have rocked the church, you can only push it so far,” he says.

“In general we like to laugh at ourselves, our history of misery, our recent economic woes, the weather and of course the old reliables like sex, marriage and raising children.”

O’Hanlon’s RTÉ show So You Want to Be Taoiseach had a lot of snark, but the job of Irish prime minister has taken on a new character since 2007. What would O’Hanlon’s approach to it be if he was filming it now?

“I don’t envy anybody that position.  Don’t blame previous incumbents for mismanagement or like Time magazine credit our current leader for any better,” he says.

“I’ve no doubt they all do the job as best as they can in impossible circumstances. But really we are the mercy of forces beyond our control. The big challenge for our taoiseach is to reduce the debt burden on the state by securing some sort of write-off.”

What was it like growing up in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan. 

“I had a happy childhood and still have lots of family in the town. The deadpan nature of the people definitely inspired my comedy. I don’t think anybody in the history of the place has ever given a straight answer to a question,” O’Hanlon says.

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Nster.com