We Need To Laugh About Kevin

Ahead of his Whale show on Saturday, funny man KEVIN McGAHERN goes back to his comedy roots.

When asked what your comedic influences are, the temptation is to say something that makes you sound intelligent like Flann O’Brien or Oscar Wilde but if I’m truly being honest my first and most enduring comedic influence is probably the cartoons of Looney Tunes.

Looney Tunes cartoons were like wee pearls you’d find scattered around the TV schedule. If there was a film on at 6 O’clock they might show a cartoon or two before it to bump it down the schedule so it’d finish just in time for the football at 8. I loved Looney Tunes.

Disney cartoons were all doe eyed cuteness and cuddles. Looney Tunes were dynamite and shotguns, explosions and falling anvils. They were violent and anarchic and to a child in the early 90s they were as hilarious and fresh as they were to a child watching them in the 1940s.

My two favourite comedians as a kid were Jim Carrey and Robin Williams. I loved those lunatics so much, I watched their movies on repeat and I was always allowed to stay up whenever they were guests on Parkinson or Johnathan Ross. Seeing them on a chat show was a religious experience. My brain couldn’t keep up with the amount of jokes they were making. I had no idea how someone like this could exist, it was like looking at a living cartoon character.

The TV show that had its biggest influence on me as a kid was probably Father Ted. But as a teenager it would have to be Chris Morris’ spoof news show The Day Today. It was a wicked and hilarious spoof of the current state of British news media and a pretty accurate warning of the direction it would eventually take.

My all-time favorite comedy film would have to be Blazing Saddles. I distinctly remember watching this for the first time with my family and howling with laughter. At the time I remember there were very few comedy films both me and my dad would enjoy together, but Blazing Saddles was perfect because it had jokes to offend the whole family!

You can catch Kevin McGahern’s new stand-up Shy Talker at The Whale on Saturday, May 25th – tickets here: https://whaletheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873644723/events/128528826