Do you find Tommy Tiernan funny?

speedboatchase

Never understood the appeal. In general I think comedians who have to shout or swear in their punchlines are compensating for a lack of material. Also, I feel like I can see him trying. Hard to explain but I just don't think he's naturally funny or quick-witted.

IamtheWalrus

jungleman wrote: »

The police. I'm afraid there's been a terrible accident.

Really?

dibkins

He glared at me in the street on day caus i was looking at him trying to figure out who he was (i had seen him in father ted) so he is pretty much my arch nemisis. Also, one day in Sligo a fella who looked sort of like him glared at me too - it might have been him again.

Crooked Jack

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

A YouTube channel I follow recently uploaded a clip of Tommy Tiernan performing at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal a few years ago. I'd seen the footage before, but not for a while.

It made obvious to me what I've believed for many years now - that Tommy Tiernan simply isn't funny, and that his success is derived from a series of 'tricks' i.e. pacing around the stage, vigorous hand gestures, excessive use of volume (e.g. shouting at the end of a sentence) and, of course, swearing.

I see no craft, no wit, no quality to any of his material. There isn't a single line that, were you to write it down on a piece of paper, you could pinpoint where the "funny bit" is.

I remember, in secondary school, when Tiernan's popularity exploded. All the lads would quote his first DVD, but I never once understood why they liked him so much.

I'm not convinced it was a mixture of Emperor's New Clothes syndrome mixed with mass delusion.

No one wanted to be the one person who didn't laugh at Tommy Tiernan, so they all 'laughed'. After a while, the forced laughter seemed natural, because people had convinced themselves Tiernan was funny.

There are so many great stand up comedians out there, who write proper jokes, with a feedline and a punchline, but Tiernan doesn't seem to ever do this.

Or am I wrong? Is Tiernan really that funny?

So when you take a joke out of context, remove all the other stuff that every other comedian uses (gestures, pacing volume etc...) write it down on a piece of paper and look at it it isnt funny?

Well I'll be damned :rolleyes:

Crooked Jack

Tommy Tiernan started out as a straight comedian but has gradually evolved into what could be best described as a modern day seanchaí.
Stand up is a very broad church allowing for endless different styles and Tommy, in many ways, is occupying a plane of his own.
He is, in my opinion, one of the finest comedians ever.

Crooked Jack

Also, his Just for Laughs stuff is hardly a fair representation of his material as he has to change the content and style fairly significantly for an international audience

crazygeryy

i think he is brilliant.as with all comedians some people love them some people hate them.
this in my opinion is a better example of how funny he can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v--fTVAWE8

JustTheOne

crazygeryy wrote: »

i think he is brilliant.as with all comedians some people love them some people hate them.
this in my opinion is a better example of how funny he can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v--fTVAWE8

Brilliant!

kunst nugget

speedboatchase wrote: »

Never understood the appeal. In general I think comedians who have to shout or swear in their punchlines are compensating for a lack of material.

Billy Connolly and Bill Burr both do that and they'd be some of the best comedians out there imo. Maybe you can only do it if your name is Bill…

Crooked Jack

speedboatchase wrote: »

Never understood the appeal. In general I think comedians who have to shout or swear in their punchlines are compensating for a lack of material. Also, I feel like I can see him trying. Hard to explain but I just don't think he's naturally funny or quick-witted.

In general I think people who say things like this don't understand stand-up comedy.
It reminds me of all the people who got their panties in a twist over Frankie Boyle performing at Feile an Phobail.

akelly02

dodderangler wrote: »

The one with the drug Olympics was ridiculously funny

i think literally that is his funniest joke...his only funny joke really, i dread him as a whole.

Barely There

Bolente Ben wrote: »

He used to be funny a longg long time ago. It's similar to how the Simpsons and Friends became unfunny. He's trying to hard to be funny and has forgotten what made him funny in the fIrst place.

I think for his own development he needs to drop Irish jokes and any type of routine which involves shouting.

I think it's the opposite tbh.

When he first started out he was inventive, surreal and very clever but within a very short period as he began to get more popular he realised he was able to get cheap laughs by just shouting out 'Fcuk' really loudly.

The main problem with him was the audience he began to attract, a braying band of numbskulls who wanted their laughs cheap and to the point.

For whatever reasons (money and fame most likely) he abandoned any comedic notions he had began to play to this audience.

You look at Dylan Moran and you can see a comedian who followed his own path.

Shame really as TT had potential. He just chose to piss it away on morons.

Crooked Jack

Barely There wrote: »

I think it's the opposite tbh.

When he first started out he was inventive, surreal and very clever but within a very short period as he began to get more popular he realised he was able to get cheap laughs by just shouting out 'Fcuk' really loudly.

The main problem with him was the audience he began to attract, a braying band of numbskulls who wanted their laughs cheap and to the point.

For whatever reasons (money and fame most likely) he abandoned any comedic notions he had began to play to this audience.

You look at Dylan Moran and you can see a comedian who followed his own path.

Shame really as TT had potential. He just chose to piss it away on morons.

Have you seen any of his shows in the last, say, five years?
They are very much his own thing and not pandering to anyone. I saw him in Silverbridge and the show was incredible. The entire stage was black except for a single beam of light in the centre that he would stalk in and out of. It took an almost religious feel at times as he conducted hymns and the like. Definitely not pandering to anyone, least of all morons.

Barely There

Crooked Jack wrote: »

Have you seen any of his shows in the last, say, five years?

Nope, probably last saw him live in early 2002 when his downward spiral was in full-flow. I couldn't believe how bad he'd gotten so quickly.
This was no gradual decline.

I'd wouldn't go to see him live now if he was playing in my front garden.

Anytime I've seen or heard him in the interim on tv shows/dvds/radio have assured me that I'm not making an error.

I really hate him now and I think that's mostly due to the potential he pissed away.

If he'd been sh;t from the outset I wouldn't really care.

Pink Lemons

Tarzana2 wrote: »

And Tiernan won't be making stuff up as he goes along. His shows will be honed and practiced like any other. He might do the odd bit of improv but any comedian needs to be able to do this.

His new stuff is 100% improv. I was watching an interview with him and was saying how he got bored with doing the same set over and over again, so now he could completely bomb one night and kill the next. Quite a brave thing to do really, and not the easiest thing in the world to do. RTE had a documentary about him as well last year about the same subject, it was when he just started the improv thing so was more bombing than killing.

NachoBusiness

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

Since when is working hard a bad thing when it comes to performance? If you are charging a thousand people €45 each - as Tiernan regularly does - I would expect a certain amount of hard work to have gone in to your act.

I don't want someone just wandering in on stage and making stuff up as he goes, like a funny uncle.

How did you get that from what I said?

I never said that working hard was a bad thing. I said that some comedians are naturally funny and some are not. There are comedians that when people who grew up with them hear that they went on to become comedians, are perplexed as they never were funny at all and then there are the type of comedians that people are not in the least bit surprised to hear it about as they had been making people laugh all through the youth. Tommy, imo, is that type of comedian, as he has a natural ability to make people laugh as opposed to some who very much do not.

briany

Tarzana2 wrote: »

TV Burp was excellent though, to me at least.

Not disputing that, but it seems like he's been presenting it so long that it would be easy for people to forget that he's also one of the most accomplished standup acts of the last 30 years or more.

Ush1

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

As I said before, it's Emperor's New Clothes syndrome.

That, mixed with mass delusion.

No one wanted to be the one person who didn't laugh at Tommy Tiernan, so they all 'laughed'. After a while, the forced laughter seemed natural, because people had convinced themselves Tiernan was funny.

There is a reason people like Dara O Briain, who is no less Irish than Tiernan, is massive in Britain, and Tiernan is only massive among Irish expats living abroad (though he was on the cusp of international fame when he won the Perrier back in the 1990s).

O Briain is simply a much smarter, harder-working and objectively better comedian.

This is definitely a real thing.

I was forced to go see John Bishop with the wife doing a show in the o2 and the crowd were all laughing like mad.

There was annoying middle aged women next to me and they were literally laughing at every word he said. Didn't need to be a joke or punchline, just constant giggling.

Chain Smoker

I think he's capable of being extremely funny, his very early stuff had some great comedic sensibilities but he hadn't the performance side of things down. Would say as a performer he's mostly improved throughout his career up as far as whenever I lost track but the material definitely took a bit of a nosedive. One big problem is that I'd say he suits a smaller size venue than he typically would fill, and with 8 kids or whatever it is to feed, it's hard to begrudge him that.

I'd really like to see a live set of him these days though, ideally performing pretty new material, have a feeling he's someone who, despite delivering the same material, could great one night and terrible another. Stewart Lee has said something along the lines that after 2 months of performing material, he begins to find it slipping into a repetitive routine that removes a lot of the life from show, I feel like Tommy Tiernan really suffers from something along those lines.



Eh, that's quite rambly, basically I'm saying I think he's good at something but there doesn't seem to a perfect place for him to occupy and still make a living from it.

NachoBusiness

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

You and I have very different definitions of 'genius'. I love good stand ups, but I wouldn't consider any of their work genius - not Richard Pryor, not George Carlin, not Lenny Bruce - and I've listened to hours and hours of all those guys.

Did you miss:

Many bands have one or two great albums and never go on to produce anything close to their best again. No reason why it shoukd be different for comedians. Only the very best are great up until the end.

With the above I am clearly saying that Tommy is not in the league of the comedians you mention.

Because he has sold so concert tickets, it isn't up for debate whether or not he is funny?

No, it isn't up for debate as he has won the Perrier Comedy Award, Best Stand-Up at the British Comedy Awards, People Choice Award at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival etc etc. They don't give these awards out for the craic. Well, actually they do, now that I think about it.

Look, you will find people who think the Beatles were crap. That DeNiro can't act. Etc etc. But it doesn't mean, because of that fact, that it's up for debate whether or not The Beatles were good or that DeNiro could act. These things are a given at a certain point, and imo, Tiernan reached that point long ago with regards to his comedy chops. You can stamp your foot and cry it's 'Emperor's New Clothes syndrome' as much as you like, but that won't make it so I'm afraid.

crazygeryy

Ush1 wrote: »

This is definitely a real thing.



There was annoying middle aged women next to me and they were literally laughing at every word he said. Didn't need to be a joke or punchline, just constant giggling.

Some woman was doing that at a jimmy carr gig and he said to her " any chance you'd pop the love balls out for awhile love"

keano_afc

Went to see him in Vicar St a few years back and remains, to this day, the only time I've ever left a show early. Absolutely woeful, his warm up act was far funnier.

Barely There

crazygeryy wrote: »

Some woman was doing that at a jimmy carr gig and he said to her " any chance you'd pop the love balls out for awhile love"

And that was funny?

crazygeryy

Barely There wrote: »

And that was funny?

Yes hilarious.
And geniously quick witted.

Ctrl Alt Delete

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

Lee Evans, no.
Brendan O'Carroll, no.
Jason Byrne, no.

Harry Hill, yes.

And by way of showing how subjective comedy is

Brendan o carroll, yes
Lee Evans , yes
Jason Byrne, not once even smiled at his jokes
Harry hill, slapstick and silliness just isn't my cuppa

Mesrine65

Depends how pissed/stoned I am

somesoldiers

I think his shows have gone downhill since his hey day but still find interviews on tv and radio very funny still

"it's like a pervert looking at you through the letter box" remains with me to this day

Crooked Jack

Ctrl Alt Delete wrote: »

And by way of showing how subjective comedy is

Brendan o carroll, yes
Lee Evans , yes
Jason Byrne, not once even smiled at his jokes
Harry hill, slapstick and silliness just isn't my cuppa

That's why this thread is so daft. it's completely subjective. You might as well start a thread about people's favourite kind of sandwich and then have otehrs getting all wound up about it.

For my part I think the likes of Michael McIntyre, Peter Kay etc... (immensely popular, bland, safe, stadium fillers) and then Russell Kane, Russell Howard etc... (shiny, stylish, safe quiz show fodder) are not only bad comedians but actually destroying stand up comedy.

kunst nugget

Crooked Jack wrote: »

For my part I think the likes of Michael McIntyre, Peter Kay etc... (immensely popular, bland, safe, stadium fillers) and then Russell Kane, Russell Howard etc... (shiny, stylish, safe quiz show fodder) are not only bad comedians but actually destroying stand up comedy.

That's a nonsense statement. There's different comedians catering for different markets just like there's different music acts doing the same. There's a wealth of great comedians out there that - Louis CK, Anthony Jeselnik, Bill Burr, Dara O'Briain, David O'Doherty, Jimmy Carr, Stewart Francis, Tim Vine, Frankie Boyle, Demetri Martin - stand up is in no fear of dying off.

And I don't care what anyone thinks but Peter Kay is razor sharp at what he does.

Crooked Jack

kunst nugget wrote: »

That's a nonsense statement. There's different comedians catering for different markets just like there's different music acts doing the same. There's a wealth of great comedians out there that - Louis CK, Anthony Jeselnik, Bill Burr, Dara O'Briain, David O'Doherty, Jimmy Carr, Stewart Francis, Tim Vine, Frankie Boyle, Demetri Martin - stand up is in no fear of dying off.

And I don't care what anyone thinks but Peter Kay is razor sharp at what he does.

I didnt mean they were killing it off, i meant they were destroying it, turning it into something bland and safe. But like i said, that just goes to show how this is all subjective.

Regarding peter kay specifically, yes, he's excellent at what he does, which is not comedy, it's nostalgia. his entire stand up routine is based around stuff he remembers from childhood. I remember friends of mine putting one of his DVDs on and I watched them as they watched it. None of them were laughing they were all going "Oh i remember that" or "I used to do that" or "my dad does that" etc...

But yeah, the whole thing is totally subjective

kunst nugget

Crooked Jack wrote: »

I didnt mean they were killing it off, i meant they were destroying it, turning it into something bland and safe.

Comedians like Anthony Jeselnik, Jim Jefferies and Frankie Boyle are never going to be safe and bland and the likes of Louis CK and Bill Burr, while being popular, are tackling subjects that are never going to fit into the cosy sets that the likes of McIntyre do. What Howard and McIntyre do is never going to have on what the other comedians I've mentioned do.

The other cliche is that safe or clean is bland. The likes of Stewart Francis, Demetri Martin and Tim Vine would be considered clean but any of the stand up I've seen from those guys has always been great imo.

Shít comics are shít comics - it won't matter if they are safe or edgy.

PTH2009

i do enjoy tommy tiernan. saw him live 3 times last was september 2014.

cant stand yer man Fred Cooke from the fear and that bernard o shea guy is a bit annoying too

MadDog76

DivingDuck wrote: »

Humour is a hugely subjective thing.

Assuming that just because it doesn't appeal to you means it can't possibly appeal to others is what's delusional, in my opinion.

Eh ............. what? I'm the one who said exactly that!!!

Read my posts, I'm a fan of Tommy's.

EDIT: I think you may have intended to quote the Op?

se02orqua5xz9v

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

Tiernan's success is derived from a series of 'tricks' i.e. pacing around the stage, vigorous hand gestures, excessive use of volume (e.g. shouting at the end of a sentence) and, of course, swearing.

I see no craft, no wit, no quality to any of his material. There isn't a single line that, were you to write it down on a piece of paper, you could pinpoint where the "funny bit" is.

Crooked Jack wrote: »

So when you take a joke out of context, remove all the other stuff that every other comedian uses (gestures, pacing volume etc...) write it down on a piece of paper and look at it it isnt funny?

Well I'll be damned :rolleyes:

Yes, that's correct. My favourite stand ups - and I have quite a few - all write material which stands up on its own. It isn't funny because you person delivering it shouted it, or inserting the word 'fucking' at some point.

Ash.J.Williams

people who wear GAA jerseys to australia think he's the greatest international comedian that ever existed.....


I think he's a decent artist, i've seen him a few times and always enjoyed, but i find him more of a spoken word artist than a comedian.

MadDog76

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

Yes, that's correct. My favourite stand ups - and I have quite a few - all write material which stands up on its own. It isn't funny because you person delivering it shouted it, or inserting the word 'fucking' at some point.

Which Stand-Up Comedians are your favourites?

Crooked Jack

kunst nugget wrote: »

Comedians like Anthony Jeselnik, Jim Jefferies and Frankie Boyle are never going to be safe and bland and the likes of Louis CK and Bill Burr, while being popular, are tackling subjects that are never going to fit into the cosy sets that the likes of McIntyre do. What Howard and McIntyre do is never going to have on what the other comedians I've mentioned do.

The other cliche is that safe or clean is bland. The likes of Stewart Francis, Demetri Martin and Tim Vine would be considered clean but any of the stand up I've seen from those guys has always been great imo.

Shít comics are shít comics - it won't matter if they are safe or edgy.

I never mentioned clean, much less equated it with being "edgy"

se02orqua5xz9v

MadDog76 wrote: »

Which Stand-Up Comedians are your favourites?

There are too many to go into, but let me put it this way. I have paid to see the following comedians perform live - often more than once - and all were good, though there may have been some caveats.

Demetri Martin
Jerry Seinfeld
Richard Herring
Stewart Francis
Stewart Lee
Doug Stanhope
Mark Thomas
Bill Burr
Daniel Kitson
Bo Burnham
Josie Long
Bill Bailey
David O'Doherty
Peter Kay
Dara O Briain
Jimmy Carr
Omid Djalili
Dylan Moran (though he has gone off the boil)
Ricky Gervais (though I think of him more of an actor than stand up)
Stephen Merchant (again, more of an actor-writer than a straight stand up)
Kevin Smith (not a stand up, but a more entertaining raconteur than many stand ups)

I've also paid to see Tiernan live twice - once in Vicar Street, the other time in county Sligo. Neither time was good.

The only comedian of Tiernan's fame who I found very disappointing was Eddie Izzard, who I saw in 2011.

MadDog76

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

There are too many to go into, but let me put it this way. I have paid to see the follower comedians perform live - often more than once - and all were good, though there may have been some caveats.

Demetri Martin
Jerry Seinfeld
Richard Herring
Stewart Francis
Stewart Lee
Doug Stanhope
Mark Thomas
Bill Burr
Daniel Kitson
Bo Burnham
Josie Long
Bill Bailey
David O'Doherty
Peter Kay
Dara O Briain
Jimmy Carr
Peter Kay
Omid Djalili
Dylan Moran (though he has gone off the boil)
Ricky Gervais (though I think of him more of an actor than stand up)
Stephen Merchant (again, more of an actor-writer than a straight stand up)
Kevin Smith (not a stand up, but a more entertaining raconteur than many stand ups)

I've also paid to see Tiernan live twice - once in Vicar Street, the other time in county Sligo. Neither time was good.

The only comedian of Tiernan's fame who I found very disappointing was Eddie Izzard, who I saw in 2011.

Ok, quite a long list so I'll pick ......... Bill Bailey .......... I don't find Bill funny at all, can't stand him actually .......... does that mean that those people who do find him funny are just pretending to find him funny ........ like Tommy Tiernan's fans are just pretending to find Tommy funny?

Also, do none of the Stand-Up's on your list ever "shout" or use the word "f*ck" when delivering a punch-line?

Pink Lemons

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

There are too many to go into, but let me put it this way. I have paid to see the following comedians perform live - often more than once - and all were good, though there may have been some caveats.

Demetri Martin
Jerry Seinfeld
Richard Herring
Stewart Francis
Stewart Lee
Doug Stanhope
Mark Thomas
Bill Burr
Daniel Kitson
Bo Burnham
Josie Long
Bill Bailey
David O'Doherty
Peter Kay
Dara O Briain
Jimmy Carr
Omid Djalili
Dylan Moran (though he has gone off the boil)
Ricky Gervais (though I think of him more of an actor than stand up)
Stephen Merchant (again, more of an actor-writer than a straight stand up)
Kevin Smith (not a stand up, but a more entertaining raconteur than many stand ups)

I've also paid to see Tiernan live twice - once in Vicar Street, the other time in county Sligo. Neither time was good.

The only comedian of Tiernan's fame who I found very disappointing was Eddie Izzard, who I saw in 2011.

You're complaining about stand ups overusing swear words but Kevin Smith is in your list of favourites? Surely he's the king of unnecessarily swearing..

Mars Bar

His stand up is pretty bad IMO. As mentioned, he's very shouty. However, he was on Alan Davies' chat show lately and he was funny when he was just telling stories.

mojesius

I saw him live for the first time this summer during his tour of the islands. I was a bit undecided about him before then but I was crying with laughter throughout the show, so yes, i like Tommy!

se02orqua5xz9v

Pink Lemons wrote: »

You're complaining about stand ups overusing swear words but Kevin Smith is in your list of favourites? Surely he's the king of unnecessarily swearing..

The list wasn't of my favourites, but of comedians I had paid to see live.

As I said, I consider Kevin Smith to be more of a raconteur than a comedian.

Yes, he does swear a lot, but the swearing isn't to get laughs. The laughs comes from what he talks about.

I never said I have a problem with swearing. I do, however, think swearing simply to get a laugh is a trick, and one that Tiernan uses a lot.

Vandango

I would find driving a nail through my own testicles, funnier than Tommy Tiernan.

Billy86

Vandango wrote: »

I would find driving a nail through my own testicles, funnier than Tommy Tiernan.

And if you put it on Youtube, some of us probably would too! :pac:

crazygeryy

Vandango wrote: »

I would find driving a nail through my own testicles, funnier than Tommy Tiernan.

Put the nail driving up on you tube and we'll all have a look.just to see if its funny.

crazygeryy

Jinx

Billy86

crazygeryy wrote: »

Jinx

Tippy toe heels no jinxies can`t jinxies me!

Besides, I beat ya to it... I NEVER beat the other poster to it! This is the beginning of a whole new era for me now, I can feel it!!

MadDog76

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

Yes, that's correct. My favourite stand ups - and I have quite a few - all write material which stands up on its own. It isn't funny because you person delivering it shouted it, or inserting the word 'fucking' at some point.

MadDog76 wrote: »

Which Stand-Up Comedians are your favourites?

Dominick Square Sprawl wrote: »

The list wasn't of my favourites, but of comedians I had paid to see live.

As I said, I consider Kevin Smith to be more of a raconteur than a comedian.

Yes, he does swear a lot, but the swearing isn't to get laughs. The laughs comes from what he talks about.

I never said I have a problem with swearing. I do, however, think swearing simply to get a laugh is a trick, and one that Tiernan uses a lot.

Ok .......... so I'll ask the question again ........... which Stand-Up Comedians are your favourites?

MadDog76

Vandango wrote: »

I would find driving a nail through my own testicles, funnier than Tommy Tiernan.

I have a hammer ...........