Midland Arts and Culture Magazine - Register.ie

“It’s hard workbeing funny,”comedianBernard O’Sheatells MidlandArts and CultureMagazine Editor,Angela Madden.Being a fulltime funny manis no laughingmattercompetition but no one entered. Oneday he said ‘would you do it’ and so Idid it to get people in and make hisevent work. That was my first gig.”This was to be the gig of his life asBernard said after that unplannedperformance things startedhappening quickly. “What happenedwas I got offered £50 and I got asupport slot to Pat McDonnell andJoe Rooney.” Both Pat and Joe werehousehold names as a result of theirFather Ted fame. “I did the supportact before them and that was mysecond gig!”Ironically – accidental comedianBernard had never actually been to acomedy gig before his debut supportact.Durrogh, county Laois, funny manBernard says he owes his success tohis best friend who died extremelyyoung and that he simply fell into therole of comedian thanks to this muchmissed pal Danny.Bernard is the youngest of a family offour and the only male in the mix.“Basically I got away with stuff,” saidBernard who admitted he had thehappiest childhood one could hopefor with Mum Mary and Dad John.In was early in this idyllic childhood,from about the age of 13, thatBernard started taking to the stage –but not as a comedian but rather as amusician playing Irish traditionaltunes with his Dad and this hecontinued to do throughout hisformative years.“Success doesnot necessarilygive you the rightto do this foreveror to make alivelihood forever.It is simply aplatform to use tobuild upon.”Then, at the age of 17 or 18 Bernardheaded into the great unknown – orat least Dundalk – to study CulturalStudies, which was a brand newcourse at the time, he told MidlandsArt and Culture Magazine.“The course covered theatre, film,archaeology, arts and culturaltheory,” he explained. “And with itbeing the first course of its kind itreally was quite experimental.”It was during this four-year coursethat Bernard got to meet a new groupof friends – and his great friendDanny (RIP). “In our third year we hadto get a project – a cultural event,”said Bernard “and Danny decided toput on a comedy show. He ran aIn the next phase of life at the end ofhis college days, the big smoke calledBernard who headed to Dublin andended up living in a bedsit andplaying Irish music on his accordionor singing to make a few pounds “andreally going nowhere”.Bernard then explained that around2004/5 a new comic turn was bornewith the revolutionary Des Bishopand his group and his brother AidanBishop, which started running everyThursday, Friday and Saturday. “I wasfriendly with Aidan and then heallowed me to gig three or four timeswith them - and then, gradually, overtime I spent more time doing comedythan music.”18