Dara Ó Briain says ‘Cork still looks like Cork’ after pandemic

IT seems Cork is about as close as a county can get to claiming comedian Dara Ó Briain, as the Wicklow native embarks on his 30th year doing gigs in the rebel county.

“I have played every type of room possible in this town,” says Ó Briain.

“I did debates here when I was in college. I was the MC in City Limits for years and when I started touring, I was in the Everyman Theatre. Then it was on to the Opera House and eventually the Marquee and then there’s smaller places I can’t even name.

“I was driving down Western Road recently and trying to name all the places that I had these mad nights out in 20 or 30 years ago.

“I’ll be walking around looking out for the street where I met some girl after the comedy club, or the place I went to before eating fried chicken at John Grace’s, or The Echo Boy statue. I walk around Cork like a soldier coming back from Normandy.”

The 50-year-old has just finished up a three-night stint at Cork Opera House — his first time back to Cork since before the pandemic struck.

“The gigs were originally meant to be on a weekend, but we had to reschedule them because of Covid, so fair dues to the audience, they really treated a Monday night like it was a Thursday,” he says with a laugh.

“They were the first shows back in Cork in four years, the pandemic just stuck gaps on everything, so it was so nice to be back.”

Ó Briain is chatting with The Echo over the phone after a stroll around Cork city, which he says has, luckily, not changed since his last walk up Patrick’s Street.

While he’d like to tell everyone that he pops to the English Market or visits the Crawford Art Gallery whenever he’s in the city, his favourite thing to do is just wander around the city’s main streets. However, a quick visit to Crane Lane or The Hi-B Bar is never off the table.

“Cork looks less damaged in of losing businesses to lockdown than other places I’ve visited,” says Ó Briain.

“I’m going back to these places all around the UK and Ireland on this tour that I’ve been to so many times before and Cork seems to have really bounced back better than most places. It feels like there’s a lot of energy around the place and that’s brilliant to see.

“I literally walked out and was like ‘ah great, Cork still looks like Cork’.”

The Mock the Week star has been based in London for the past 20 years, building a career that has led him to become one of the UK’s most sought-after comedians. His current ‘So..Where Were We’ tour has him running around both the UK and Ireland, with a circle back planned for Live at the Marquee on June 23.

He can’t pick which country is his favourite to perform in, but there is a joy, he says, in creating jokes specifically for Irish audiences.

“It depends on the part of the UK I’m in as to how much I enjoy it there. Some parts are a bit quieter and can be a bit of a grind, but the likes of Birmingham and Manchester are brilliant,” says Ó Briain.

“But when I come back to Ireland there’s bits that I can sprinkle on that I have to leave out in the UK. There are so many references that I know audiences here will get.”

June’s performance will be Ó Briain’s fourth time playing Live at the Marquee — and his last playing at the venue’s current Docklands site if plans go ahead to move the location of the summer event series next year. With 4,000 people, the gig is also usually the biggest night of his tours.

“The hype of doing the Marquee is that it is always a night of torrential rain,” Ó Briain says with a laugh.

“You can obviously hear it because it’s a tent. Last time it felt like we had all gone camping together. There was just this constant drumming sound for the entire two hours.

“By the end of the gig I was like ‘look lads there’s nothing left out there. It’s all been washed away. It’s just us on this bit of tarmac and we have to rebuild society’.

“There were literally holes in the roof of the tent. It’s a great show though and I’ll miss the location if it does go. If this is to be the last hurrah on that random bit of land outside of Cork, then I’d like it to be a good one. Let’s give it a big send off.”