Appearing on TV panel shows has been quite surreal
It’s been quite a year for Dan Tiernan, who is now able to live out his dream of doing comedy full time.
He won the £10,001 top prize in the British Comedian Of The Year 2022 competition, and also triumphed in the televised BBC New Comedy Awards the same year. The latter saw more than 1,000 comedians apply, with 80 selected to appear at showcases across the country, and 30 then progressing to the six regional heats, screened on BBC3.
The awards certainly put Dan on the map – and he’s still trying to get his head around some of the opportunities they’ve led to.
“To be honest, I still can’t quite believe that I’m working full-time in comedy.
“I’ve done some things I never thought I’d do, recorded TV panel shows, supported Micky Flanagan on tour, and I did a photoshoot for Hello Magazine. It’s mad.
“My mum said to me recently that she can’t even ask me what I’m doing with
my day because she’s scared of what the answer would be! Which is a bit of an over-exaggeration. I’m often not doing much that’s very exciting, but it’s all completely changed my life.”
One of the most surreal moments for Dan was being invited along as a panellist on the upcoming series of QI.
He pitted his wits against Zoe Lyons, Josh Widdecombe, Alan Davies and host Sandi Toksvig for an episode airing this autumn.
“I like to think I’ve got to a point where I can be presented with a really mad opportunity in stand-up and know how to deal with the nerves and just go out and do it,” he said.
“Doing QI or any of the panel shows I’ve done has been so different because I’m just not used to the actual process of sitting behind the desk.
“It was weird, the nerves beforehand and then, on top of that, I was with heavyweights, panel show stars, people I was watching as a kid on TV.
“QI took me a bit of a while to get into it. I think I’m getting a bit better at becoming a bit more desensitised to who these people are, you can’t think about it too much or it freaks you out.
“You feel like, actually, at times you’re watching the part of the show and then you realise, no, you’re on the show, you need to say something now. It’s really stressful, but everyone was absolutely lovely and I had a great time.
“I’m hopefully starting to learn how to kind of deal in that environment a little bit more.”