ON THE SMALL SCREEN
DARA O’BRIAIN AND ED BYRNE TACKLING THE ROAD TO MANDALAY
FOLLOWING the success of 2015 series Dara And Ed’s Great Big Adventure, in which Dara O’Briain and Ed Byrne drove from North to South America, the duo decided to take another epic trip.
This time, the Irish comedians teamed up to travel more than 3,000 miles from the economic powerhouse of Malaysia to the fledgling democracy of Myanmar – via Thailand’s beautiful but bursting-at-the-seams tourist hotspots – for Road To Mandalay.
The pair, who’ve been firm friends for years (and were best men at each other’s weddings), experienced their fair share of laughs and learning along the way. Fresh from their journey, and before it airs on BBC2, here they share some of their most memorable moments – and reveal how they remained amicable when travelling at close quarters...
“We’ve learnt to bicker at a low level the entire way through, and that tends to lance the boil that could turn into a proper fight,” admits Dara.
STRINGS ATTACHED
DURING the Malaysian leg of their journey, Dara and Ed travelled to Kota Bharu, the capital of the state of Kelantan, to watch special shadow puppetry based on famous Hindu epics.
The art form was banned in 1990 by the Islamic Party, but with restrictions since relaxed, the comedians got the opportunity to try their hand at the skill in front of a rather bemused audience.
Things went downhill before their performance even began, when the pair got set up behind the puppet screen.
“We were sitting down in a way that we just don’t do in this part of the world – where you have your legs coiled underneath you, in a non-spasm-inducing way – that was really uncomfortable,” says Dara, 45.
If that wasn’t awkward enough, they then attempted to recreate the classic Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch with their puppets.
“We properly died on stage; something I have been trying to avoid on television for 20 years. We genuinely bombed,” Dara recalls, cringing at the memory.
Ed, also 45, adds: “The guy who taught us how to do it, the first thing I said to him afterwards was, ‘Did it make you long for the time when it was banned?”’
BOXING CLEVER
IN BANGKOK, Dara and Ed watched Thailand’s national sport, Muay Thai (or Thai boxing), and visited a gym to try it themselves.
“Dara was more of what Bruce Lee called the ‘art of fighting without fighting’ – he is a black belt at that,” says Ed.
“I’m more of the Clint Eastwood and he’s the Hilary Swank,” quips Dara, referring to Oscar-winning 2004 film Million Dollar Baby.
“There was no need for me to do it. I am a 6ft 4ins man and no one picks a fight with a 6ft 4in man anyway.”
Dubliner Ed had done some martial arts in his youth, but wasn’t prepared for how strenuous this was. “You block a kick with your shin,” he says. “Where we come from, that’s called getting kicked in the shin.”
TURTLE POWER
IN THAILAND, the pair also looked at the positive and negative impact tourism can have, and the pressure it puts on nature and wildlife.
They visited a turtle conservation centre in Phuket, and travelled to a camp in the Golden Triangle to meet elephants rescued from poor treatment in the country’s elephant tourism industry.
“Thailand is stunningly beautiful, but there is an element of cautionary tale about that level of tourism. They themselves are shutting areas off and putting a cap on the amount of people who can come in, because it’s insane,” says Wicklow-born Dara.
“It does mean that culturally it’s a bit like Temple Bar in Dublin – there is a part of the city where we shove all the tourists, and then we live our lives somewhere else.”
WRAP PARTY
AFTER extensive travels, the pair were looking forward to reaching their final destination, Mandalay in Myanmar. But according to Dara, this legendary city is “the most forgettable place”.
“It shut at 10 o’clock, we finished filming and there was nothing open – the whole city just closes down. Of all the places you have images in your head of – Timbuktu and Kathmandu, Casablanca is apparently very disappointing as well, Mandalay surprisingly; nothing!”
This meant the show’s wrap party was a rather tame affair.
“It consisted of five cans of beer and some packets of Pringles,” Ed reveals.
OPPOSITES ATTRACT
AS FAR as holidays are concerned, the comedians are poles apart.
“Dara prefers being in cities and I prefer a mountain or a lake,” says Ed. “For me, it feels more of an adventure the further away from civilisation you get.”
Whereas for Dara, “there’s nothing I adore more than a city break”.
Next on the pair’s bucket list would be Scandinavia (although Dara worries it might not be “exotic enough” to get commissioned for TV).
“It would be a good place to explore, as you have these great big cities and also these vast wide open spaces,” says Ed.
Sounds like the best of both worlds for these amusing adventurers.
Dara And Ed’s Road To Mandalay begins on BBC2 on Sunday at 9pm.