O’Brien moves into the comedy fast lane
IT’S no mean feat to sell out a show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but after seven years of heading to spend the summer in Scotland, that’s exactly what happened to Danny O’Brien.
The Irish comedian’s RaconTour show was one of the most sought-after tickets in town and since then he’s been travelling the highways and byways of Ireland as the support for Today FM’s Dermot and Dave.
Now Danny is bringing RaconTour home for three intimate shows before a major tour next year. And some family secrets will be tumbling out on stage.
‘There’s a bit of a mad family story that is connected to the show as well,’ Danny says. ‘I don’t want to give too much away, but I inherited a motorbike from my uncle. It was lying in his shed and he said I could have it as long as I did something with it. It was a Honda Nighthawk 750, which is basically a tractor with handlebars. I found an old photograph of my dad on the same kind of bike, and he has been uncontactable-slash-missing for 20 years. I was trying to write the show and find out where he is at the same time.’
It turned out to be a journey with a difference for a number of reasons. Danny explains: ‘My parents split up when I was younger and I lost contact with my dad. I tried to step up the search for him when I found the photos, but it turned into the worst kind of Guess Who? game ever.
‘I decided to drive around Ireland on the bike, but I failed my motorbike test about four times in the process. It was a bit of a financial haemorrhage, but I had kind of gone too far in, so I had to keep going with it.’
This doesn’t sound much like a laugh-aminute, but that’s testament to O’Brien’s skills that he can turn such a story into comic brilliance that had Edinburgh audiences attending in their droves.
‘It’s an unique story and stand-up show, but it’s funny — it’s not a show where you make everyone depressed for an hour,’ he says.
‘The whole Edinburgh thing was terrifying. I was very much outside my comfort zone compared with what I’ve done before for stand-up shows. It was my seventh year in Edinburgh and I was in one of the bigger venues, so there was a lot of pressure comedically and financially, it’s a huge investment of your time as well as your money.
‘You can’t arrive with a crap show because it’s so competitive — there are 7,000 shows on there in the month. But it was really well received and I’m excited to see how it will be received in Ireland.’ DANNY O’Brien brings RaconTour to Dublin’s Whelan’s on November 24; the Town Hall Theatre, Westport, on November 30; and Island Arts Centre, Lisburn, on December 1