Stars In His Eyes
Comedian Dara Ó Briain reveal show his passion for science and space has opened up an exciting new career path…
He’s spent the last twenty-five years selling out stadiums as a stand-up and fronting some of TV’s biggest shows, such as Mock The Week and Have I Got News For You? But when reflecting on his proudest achievements, Dara Ó Briain comes out with something surprising.
“Did you know there’s an asteroid named after me?” he says. “I discovered this recently, during lockdown. It’s in the asteroid belt, just going about its business, and it’ll probably pass us in about 100 years. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”
It’s hardly a surprise that he’s been granted such an honour, given that Dara is a self-confessed space anorak.
His interest began when he was just a kid and developed at university, studying mathematics and theoretical physics at University College, Dublin. And while it was a career in comedy that beckoned, space and science are his passion projects.
In 2011, he worked on the BBC’s Stargazing Live show with Professor Brian Cox and met some of his space heroes such as Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
These days, Dara indulges his hobby by writing books about it for kids. His third, Is There Anybody Out There? has just been released and is packed full of weird and wonderful facts about space and life on other planets.
“I speculate about what form alien life might take,” he says of the book. “We know it’s probably not going to look much like StarWars, for example, where all the aliens are the same height, with two arms, two legs and muppet faces!
“The book also looks at how we might communicate with alien life, but given that we can barely talk to other species on our own planet, I’m not sure we should travel thousands of miles to meet actual aliens.”
Dara admits the writing g process has been difficult, because all of his books require lots of research.
“There were times with this one where I went, ‘Why did I not write a kids’ book called Far ty The Submarine and his Amazing Adventures ?’ As a stand-up, your instinct is to make stuff up, but you just can’t do that when you’re dealing in facts.”
Luckily, lockdown provided him with the perfect opportunity to concentrate. He was also kept busy home-schooling his three young kids and admits he acquired some new skills, too.
“I’ve done a lot more cooking than I ever did, and I’ve learned how to repair a soft-close toilet lid and a Nintendo Joy-Con joystick. That was a huge sense of achievement!”
Like many entertainers, his stand-up work was cancelled in March – when he was midway through a tour of the US and Canada – but he hopes theatres will open again soon so that he can return to performing.
“It will always be my first love and I’m so grateful for all the things it’s given me. All these years later, I’ve still been doing new things and going to new places. Who knows what the future holds now? But let’s hope that continues.”