Having spent the past few years becoming an ever-present and popular presence as a top TV presenter, Irish comedian Dara Ã? Briain has made a triumphant return to stand-up comedy.
He will be appearing on the island later this month when he brings his current touring comedy show, ’Voice of Reason’ to the Villa Marina on Friday and Saturday, March 29 and 30.
The show has proved so popular that the tour, which has taken Dara across the world throughout 2018, has been extended into this year and what was originally intended to be a single date Manx date was extended to two concerts after the first sold out in a matter of days.
Dara is well-known for presenting many different shows covering a multitude of topics, from the comedy show ’Mock the Week’ to ’Robot Wars’, ’The Apprentice: You’re Fired!’, ’School of Hard Sums’, ’Dara Ã? Briain’s Science Club’ and ’Stargazing Live, alongside Professor Brian Cox.
However, ’Voice of Reason’ will see Dara leave the ’geeky’ side of his character behind and present a show that he says is just purely and simply a funny comedy show.
’If there is a theme to the show, it is that at the age of 46, I have an incredibly normal life,’ said Dara.
’I do get really enthusiastic about science-y stuff. You can see me getting giddy about space, which is why I recently wrote "Secret Science: The Amazing World Beyond Your Eyes", a kids’ book about space. But on tour, I’m there to do funny.
’This show is an evening of entertainment. It’s two hours of laughing. It’s not meant to be pedagogic. It is not meant to say: "You’ll be laughing, but you’ll also be learning."
’Of course, if that happens, that’s grand. But first and foremost, ’Voice of Reason’ is just a load of funny stuff.’
Having said that, he will be sharing some of his tales about working alongside the likes of Dr Cox.
’When Brian and I work together, he is the expert and I am the broadcaster,’ said Dara.
’When he is talking, sometimes a producer says into my earpiece: "A plane is now hovering over Scandinavia with shots of the aurora borealis. We have to cut to that."
’So at those moments, I have to interrupt Brian. But furious viewers then write in saying: "Why did you interrupt Professor Brian Cox? I was enjoying watching him!"
’They genuinely think I interrupt Brian because I’m jealous of him. They imagine I’m saying: "Sorry to interrupt you, Brian, but it is not going to be all about you tonight. I also know things that I want to tell the audience".
’Brian and I find that idea hilarious!’
The ’Voice of Reason’ tour has taken Dara right across the UK, and he has found that touring allows him to build close relationships with each place he visits, and he says that the audiences in many places often remind him of jokes he told about a place during his last visit.
’It’s wonderful to create local jokes that repay three or seven or even 12 years later,’ he said.
’When I play Coventry, for instance, there are always packets of crisps on the stage. That comes from an audience interaction I had 12 years ago.
’Back then, I was chatting with a guy in the audience who worked for a crisp company. I did a joke about it, and when I came back on stage after the interval, there were 12 packets of crisps waiting for me on stage! Many people in Coventry remember that.’
This latest tour has taken him to more than 20 countries across the world, including some remote places that he would have never considered would have been frequented by comedy tours.
’The whole thing has opened out and gone global,’ he said.
’I recently walked past a bus stop in Stavanger that had a picture of Russell Howard.
’In Tromsø, in the Arctic Circle, I walked on stage and said: "I don’t know how often you have these gigs". And they called out: "We had Bill Bailey here last night!" That punctured my balloon a bit.’
’Bill went on to play Svalbard, which is even further north. I thought I was being a hero doing Tromsø, but he was doing a gig to polar bears in the Svalbard arts centre!’
There are still tickets available for Dara Ã? Briain, priced £23.50, available from the Welcome Centre or the Villa Marina box office, on 600555, or online from villagaiety.com
by Mike Wade
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