By Lisa O’Rourke
A kick of a bishop is one man’s humor and another’s blasphemy. Humor is a funny thing. It is personal, culturally and individually. You have to understand how people think in order to flip the precepts.
Along with what we laugh at, the value a culture places on humor itself is important. Polls in Ireland have consistently placed humor at the top of the list in desirable traits in a spouse.
Trite? Maybe. But what gets else gets a person through the “or worse” parts of life like the ability to laugh at it all.
Irish Humor
While not an expert, I am a dedicated observer. What I have seen is that the Irish sense of humor is understated. It is certainly irreverent.
Almost everything that they do is irreverent. Straight answers are for dullards. Humor is a creative outlet.
Characteristic of Irish humor is “drawing people out.” This involves a preposterous statement tossed out like bread to pigeons. My brother-in-law is a master. He once got a mature but novice farmer to call into Midwest Radio to put a question out to the listeners.
He asked, on air, for tips on how to put cotton balls in ewes’ ears so they wouldn’t be pestered by their lambs all night. He had a hard time in the pub for years.
Father Ted
Years ago, having put the kids to bed, I collapsed into the comfy chair, glass in one hand, remote in the other. I landed on PBS and saw an episode of Father Ted called “Kicking Bishop Brennan Up the *&&”. I promise that I spit wine I was laughing so hard.
If you have been denied the pleasure, “Father Ted” was an English comedy with a masterful Irish cast. It was about three priests and their housekeeper living on remote Craggy Island.
Father Ted was a down-to-earth Everyman, equipped with very human frailties.
Ted’s competitive nature and need to keep up appearances turned just about everything he did into classic screwball scenes. By the time the show landed here, it was finished in Ireland due to the death of its star, Dermot Morgan.
The show that is beloved in Ireland was yanked from programming here in the US. The complaints came from very vocal Catholic Irish Americans: Bishop Brennan
Two of ‘dem
Another master of Irish comedy is the chameleon, Pat Shortt. He may never completely translate here, but he is a favorite, especially with Irish country people. It’s because he has every rural Irish type down. And he would know, being a Mayo man.
Pat launched his career in a duo called the “D’Unbelievables,” with the late John Kenny. He has a movie career now too. Once you know the face, you will see him in the background of Irish movies and series, stealing scenes with his over-the-top but spot-on characters.
Beloved in Ireland, “D’Unbelievables,” might be too regional for general consumption. You be the judge: Pat Shortt D’Archive
Slowly but surely, the Irish sense of humor is making some headway here. Media has brought our stuff there and their stuff here. The dry, understated mischief that is in so much dialogue translates well. Brendan Gleason is a great model of the deadpan delivery that manages to be so funny, while he is all sincerity.
TikTok
A significant factor in the spread of cultural humor is the level playground of social media, TikTok and Instagram in particular. Love them or hate them, social media platforms offer people with ideas the opportunity to express them without having to impress some studio executive. That has been huge for some people.
You could find no better example of this phenomenon than Garron Noone. I promise you that no studio executive would have thought of him as star material. He would tell you that himself. But there he is, with a few million online followers, shouted out on stage by no less than Stevie Nicks, and several appearances on the Irish Late Late Show under his considerable belt.
Garron is so west of Ireland it hurts. Of course, that is something that not everyone would see. What they do see is an honest man calling it as he sees it. He is not a fan of the hype of anything. He’s never going to go in for the snobby.
In his online shorts, he talks for a few minutes about whatever is on his mind that day. It could be anything from what is the best candy bar to an anticipated American invasion.
His rationales for his choices are the funniest parts of his monologues. The language here might be a bit rough, but it is west of Ireland authentic. What can the man do?
Worst Biscuits Garron Noone (*Inappropriate language here)
Social Anxiety
His life story is amazing. In a Late Late show interview, Garron talked about spending years with a social anxiety so intense that he was unable to leave the house. Everyone needs some connection, and he decided to make his online. He could post on TikTok, because who would see them after all?
Well, loads of people. His catchphrase, “Follow me, I’m delicious” is often how people identify him. His story is the opposite of how the effects of social media are often characterized. It was far from isolating.
For Garron, social media was a springboard into life. Getting out of his shell has led him to perform onstage. He has a beautiful singing voice to boot! Garron Noone “When You Say Nothing At All”
What does it all mean? One message is to lighten up. That Irish sense of irreverence is a survival skill. It has kept their spirits intact in the face of all kinds of hardship.
