Tommy Tiernan

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Image:TT blue hat.jpg Tommy Tiernan is an Irish comedian, actor and writer, born in 1970, in Navan, County Meath. He attended the same class as Irish television presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin, in St. Patrick's Classical School, Navan,<ref name=bio>Tommy Tiernan: Comedian Profile — biography from the Comedy Zone website, retrieved 28 November 2006.</ref> a former Roman Catholic junior seminary which remarkably produced two winners of the prestigious Perrier Comedy Award in the 1990s (The other being Dylan Moran).

1 Comedic Style
2 Appearances & awards
3 Appearances
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Comedic Style

Image:TT crown of thorns.jpg

Tiernan is well-known in Ireland for his up-front take on the Catholic presence in Irish culture. Both of these topics are possibly his most prominent material, and also his most infamous.

His general style could be compared to that of the old style storytellers of Ireland, the Seanchai. Also reminiscent of this is his RTÉ TV programme, Supertramp, in which Tiernan walked across the length of Ireland, meeting people, collecting stories and performing shows along the way.

He is best known for his use of intelligent observation dressed up with energetic physical comedy and a loud, impassioned delivery. Tiernan dissects the older traditions of Irish culture, throwing a contemporary light on them. For example he compares two fictitious Catholic priests, one African and the other Australian, reciting the same sermon, but he demonstrates how the way you approach religion can make all the difference. Also famous are his takes on the yuppie culture hitting Ireland, in the form of the Celtic Tiger.

Tiernan philosophises that life should be enjoyed instead of mourned and that life is pointless (and that's precisely the point). He is quoted as saying [in reference to the Universe being infinite]: "Nobody knows we're here... so... let's wreck the joint!".

Tiernan is noted to wear (becoming trademark) red trainers on stage, a pointer to his 'cracked' methodology.

[edit] Appearances & awards

In 1996 Tiernan won the Channel 4 "So You Think you're Funny" award. Two years later he was awarded the Perrier Comedy Award, at the 1998 Edinburgh Festival.

Tiernan has been a regular performer at national and international comedy festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival. He also acted in the acclaimed Father Ted series on Channel 4 playing the manicly depressed Father Kevin.