WHEN GAYBO MET JOHN B
WHILE there are many remarkable Late Late Show moments, few compare with the relationship between John B Keane and Gay Byrne. Part of Gay’s talent as a host was letting the guest’s character and humour rise to the top as the true talking point. John B always took full advantage.
In many ways John B sold the idea of ‘Kerry’ to the rest of Ireland through The Late Late Show - the roguery, humour, intellect and ‘glass half full’ way of life comes through as a staple of the Kerry character. “Marriage should be recognised as a confrontation, an ongoing war between two people with short outbreaks of peace in-between,” John B humorously said of marriage on the show in ‘86. Or about ‘ the power’ of the mortuary card and its ability to sanctify even ‘ the scoundrel’.
Through Gay , The Late Late projected John B to an urban audience. Even though the Listowel Races is known far and wide, in the days before social media John B - through the Late Late - was an advertising portal for the races. “The weather has nothing to do with Listowel Races because it’s a state of mind,” he told Gay.
It’s on the topic of being a Kerry man that John B shines through. He spoke of how “fame rests very lightly on the shoulders of Kerry men...it’s no use trying to corner a Kerry man as he’ll change his gait in order to generate confusion.”
On the subject of getting old, John B said during a 1987 appearance: “I consider every grey hair as a stripe the likes of which you’d see on a Sargent major. It is to say that I have been there and back.” - a line that could just as easily have been uttered this week with Gay in mind.