ONE of the biggest names in comedy is returning to stand-up with the announcement of a UK tour, including a date here in Reading later year.
Ardal O’Hanlon, star of Father Ted, Death in Paradise, Taskmaster, Derry Girls, and My Hero, is back at the mic with his brand new tour, Not Himself.
The tour sees one of Ardal’s most introspective shows to date brought to venues around the UK and kicks off in September, coming to Reading’s Hexagon in October.
Of his return to the stage for standup, he says: “I’m relishing it–I’ve been doing quite a few festivals, a few one-offs but I think the show’s ready now.
“It’s been in the works for three or four years, but it’s come together nicely in the last few months.”
While it started out, he says as “big chunks of material, themes do gradually emerge of stuff that’s been on your mind.
“Then those feed into other stuff and it really becomes a show; I love that process.”
“I’ve always loved the writing, even though it’s hard: taking something you see potential in, running it through the comedy clubs, developing it, I love all that.”
Ardal’s stand-up has featured on some of the biggest showcases in the world of comedy since he began performing in the early 1990s, including the inaugural series of Live at the Apollo, as host in The Stand Up Show, and being the first overseas act to record a half-hour special for Comedy Central USA.
“I’m really anal about the construction of the joke,” he explains, “even when something is working brilliantly, I still worry it to death and tinker.
“If you can nudge it just a little further, it makes all the difference–and it’s really down to the syllable.
“The choice of a word can be so important, there are certain words which are just funny, and of course timing and intonation are everything.”
Ardal’s experience in some of the most beloved scripted comedy shows as well as straight drama, and even sci-fi, informs his craft, however.
“Something I picked up from acting is to bring that performance to a stand-up show.
“When I started out, stand-up was going through such a funny sort of phase, it was mostly scruffy people shuffling onto stage and mumbling.
“There was no real sense of the performance– that has changed a lot over the years.
“But it’s also about engaging with your own material, which sounds like it should be a given, but it isn’t always; you have to treasure every moment on stage, and really mine it for all it’s worth.”
The new stand-up show is more introspective than previous work, something which is more common in modern comedy than ever before.
“It’s embarrassing to admit but I am a people pleaser, I want to be very entertaining. A lot of comedy is coming from a deeply personal place.
“People are talking about their ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, trauma that they may have experienced.
“Some of that can be a little bit forced, but it can also be very real, and it can be the whole reason that performers are doing their shows, so I suppose that was a starting point [for the show] for me.”
Of the title, Not Himself, he says: “[It] would suggest it’s sort of about identity, but ultimately it’s about looking at where you are in life, how I’ve arrived here, so I do look back on my formation a bit as a human and as a comedian.
“But I’m also reacting, being funny for the sake of being funny– which I suppose is like a retreat into escapism, going overboard into the silliness as well.”
This approach is brought into particular focus with a renunion story: “It’s kind of a true story, not even so much a joke, per se, from a few years ago.
“We were in the car park after a school reunion and saying our goodbyes–all in our suits and everything else, and somebody finds a ball.
“So, at two in the morning, we ended up playing this football match on the tarmac in the dark, full contact; people who haven’t kicked the ball in 25 years, and they’ve only got seconds to show everyone else they’ve still got it.”
The event became something of an allegory, and formed part of the philosophy of the show.
“I kind of go into this big, long thing about that and how it becomes something quite emotional for me on stage.
“And it grows and gets exaggerated– but you see the hopeful, innocent little boy emerging in each pot-bellied, balding, wheezing man.
“All the money worries, marriage difficulties, mental health issues– for those glorious moments, nothing else mattered.
“That’s the moment in the show I most look forward to because it encapsulates where I’m at in life, trying to recover that innocence.”
He explains: “Comedians are generally self-deprecating, if not actively self-loathing, so you’re always checking yourself.
“If you tend towards being philosophical, you feel like you need to pull back, and watch yourself.
“When I started out, I think I was pretending to be stupid, but trying to be clever– that was the sweet spot for me.
“It was a sort of wide-eyed eejit persona that I had, but the jokes were more clever and observational– that’s what I was aiming for, smuggling brighter ideas in dressed as fluffier comedy.”
Stand-up comedy is not always taken seriously as an art form, he explains: “But it possibly should be– bands get away with murder.
“Whereas comedy is minute by minute. The air can go out of a show very quickly, the tide can turn, so it’s a high-wire act.
“But I do think there’s something very joyful about it, very communal, and it’s very portable– you can bring a stand-up show anywhere.
“There’s also an appetite for it, and one which has really endured, actually. It weathers a lot of storms and economic catastrophes.
“It’s extremely joyful, a fantastic feeling when you trigger that release in an audience, and I do think there’s something to be said for it as a public service– as group therapy almost.”
His joy in performing has led to an impressive resume which includes the likes of British institutions like Doctor Who, Father Ted, Skins, Death in Paradise, Cucumber, and Derry Girls.
He’s also appeared in marquee entertainment shows like Taskmaster, Would I Lie to You, Who Do You Think You Are, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Whose Line is it Anyway, Celebrity Mastermind, and Countdown.
“It’s just a job at the time. You move on and pray that you got away with it– that’s how I’ve always felt.
“I count myself incredibly lucky to have been able to take part in shows like Taskmaster and Death in Paradise.
“Actually, Taskmaster was different; that was just the most fun I’ve ever had in my life, actually, so that wasn’t really a job.
“But you look at others that you admire, and you just feel like your CV is sh*te– the world moves on very quickly too.
“It’s not that you want to be remembered or recognized–as a creative person or an artist, dare I say, you’re literally starting from scratch every day of your life.”
Ardal O’Hanlon’s Not Himself is coming to venues across the UK from September through March, including Reading’s Hexagon Theatre on Thursday, October 16.
Full details and tickets are available via: ardalohanlon.com
